The central government employees planning an indefinite strike from July 11 against the "meagre" pay hike announced in the 7th Pay Commission have deferred it for four months following assurance, government sources said on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured the employees that a high-powered committee will consider the issue, the sources said.
On July 2, informed sources had told IANS that the government is considering increasing the minimum pay up to Rs 20,000 in view of the strike threat. The employees associations were, on the other hand, adamant that the minimum pay should be Rs 26,000.
Shivgopal Mishra, General Secretary, All India Railway Men Federation and Convenor of the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) had on that day said that the strike won't be called off until the government comes out with a formal proposal on pay hike.
"We met the representatives of the government on June 30. They had proposed to refer our demands of minimum wage to some committee. However, we haven't heard officially from them so far," Mishra had told IANS.
The NJCA is a front formed by six government staff unions, including Confederation of Central Government Employees (CCGE), All India Defence Employee Federation and National Coordination Committee of Pensioners Association, to oppose the hikes given by the 7th Pay Commission.
The NJCA officer-bearers had met Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on June 30 to discuss the issue.
--IANS
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