Govt is committed to take care of other employees: Mukul

SHILLONG, DEC 13: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today said the state government is committed to take care of other employees who are not covered under government category.

“We are concern and are committed to take care of our friends belonging to different spectrum of employees including those covered under the minimum wages,” Sangma told the Assembly here on Wednesday.

The chief minister was replying to a special motion moved by opposition UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh on the need to extend financial benefits to school teachers, casual employees, daily wage earners and disadvantaged sections like widows and infirm in sync with the pay hike announced to state government employees.

Lyngdoh while initiating the discussion urged the state government to implement the principle of “equal pay for equal work” in the state as per the ruling passed by the Supreme Court.

“In the light of what has been recommended by the 5^th Pay Commission for government servants, the same yardstick should also apply to the teaching community,” he said.

The UDP leader also urged the government to ensure that all casual employees derive the benefit under the principle of equal pay for equal work.

However, Sangma said the grant-in-aid to the various school managing committees (SMCs) was already enhanced by 100 per cent even much before the government decided on the recommendations by the fifth pay commission.

“The extension of the grant-in-aid was also with a rider that the SMC should not pay salary less than that amount. I don’t know how many times we have increase the grant-in-aid as we share the same concern,” he added.

Recalling that in 2010 when the government implements the revised pay structure for its employees, the chief minister said that the departments had been asked to pass the benefit to other categories of employees in a similar way.

“So, we have already asked the education to examine this aspect as was done earlier,” he said.

Maintaining that the terms and references of the fifth pay commission was specifically to examine the pay structure of government employees, he said, “But in the past we have gone beyond this, so there is no reason to worry, it will happen and the work is on (to take care of other categories).”

Sangma also claimed that the government is already prepared and knew what will happen after approving the fifth pay commission recommendations. “So we will do it,” he added.

By Our Reporter