Government employees organised a protest at Jantar Mantar today. The protest was organised under Government Employee National Confederation (GENC), the industrial unit of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).

The protest drew government employees from defence, postal, railways and other sectors, from all over the country; all of whom are not happy with the Seventh Pay Commission. Implemented by the central government on June 29, the salary increment under this pay commission is the lowest in comparison to previous commissions. There are also issues with basic salary, removal of New Pension Scheme (NPS) – under which recruits after 2004 would not be given pension – 20 per cent salary reduction on child care leave (CCL) for women employees, and more.

The protesters have sent a memorandum to the government with all their demands. “The talks are on and if the government fails to consider our demands then we will decide our future course,” President of GENC, Kailash Nath Sharma, told Newslaundry.

“Increasing the basic salary to just Rs18,000, the Seventh Pay Commission has done injustice to the employees,” said BMS president, Baijnath Rai, adding that despite assurances, the government failed to acknowledge the employees’ demands.

Some employees who had come from the defence sector also demanded One Rank One Pension given the dangerous nature of their work. “Our employees regularly die due to explosions in the factory, so given the dangers involved in the job, we also want a One Rank One Pension like the armed forces,” said Yogendra Singh Chauhan, who works in the Field Gun Factory, Kanpur.

After the Seventh Pay Commission submitted its report on November 19, 2015, the government formed an Empowered Committee to look into recommendations for the final plan.

“The Empowered Committee took recommendations from employee representatives but the cabinet came up with an unaltered pay commission after eight months. What was the government doing for so long?” asked BMS vice president, Brijesh Upadhyay.