BENGALURU, March 1 (PTI): Government employees in Karnataka on Wednesday withdrew their indefinite strike after the State government announced a 17 per cent hike in basic salary as interim relief and constituted a committee on the pension scheme.
The employees had demanded interim relief of 40 per cent increase in basic salary and revision of salaries as per the 7th Pay Commission.
The order will be applicable to the employees of the local bodies under the State government and the government-aided educational institutions.
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The local bodies will bear the expenses benefiting the employees working there.
The government also announced increasing the basic pension of State government employees by 17 per cent from April 1, 2023.
On their demand to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and revert to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), the Government said the committee under Additional Chief Secretary would study the feasibility.
“The State government has constituted a committee led by the Additional Chief Secretary to study the steps taken by those States which have re-introduced the old pension scheme and submit a report. The committee will visit those States where the new pension scheme has been stopped and the old pension scheme has been introduced and would submit the report in two months,” the government order said.
The decision on withdrawal of the indefinite strike which commenced today was announced by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association president C S Shadakshari.
In a statement, Shadakshari said, “In view of the State government responding to the demands put forth by the Karnataka State Government Employees Union, the strike has been called off with immediate effect.”
He also expressed his gratitude to all the government officers and employees who took part in the strike and made it a success.
Many primary schools did not function as teachers did not turn up while the Outpatient Department (OPD) in some government hospitals was also affected.
However, there was very little effect on transport services as the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses operated as usual.
The police personnel were deployed at prominent places to ensure that the strike did not pose any law and order problem.
