Strike by govt clerks inconveniences Gurugram residents

The clerks are demanding that their basic pay be hiked from ₹19,900 to ₹35,400 a month or increased to be on par with salaries offered in Punjab for similar posts. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Gurugram Municipal Corporation (MCG) and road transport authority (RTA) were majorly impacted

Citizens visiting government offices in Gurugram were inconvenienced on Friday by the ongoing strike by clerks of all the departments demanding a salary hike.

Government clerks stage a protest outside the Mini Secretariat on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/ HT)

Hundreds of clerks from various departments are on mass leave since Wednesday for an indefinite period and are currently holding a protest outside the Mini Secretariat, said district officials. Most of the clerks from Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), road transport authority (RTA), Haryana Roadways, education, revenue, irrigation, forest, wildlife and power department are on the indefinite strike.

The clerks are demanding that their basic pay be hiked from ₹19,900 to ₹35,400 a month or increased to be on par with salaries offered in Punjab for similar posts.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Gurugram Municipal Corporation (MCG), revenue department, and road transport authority (RTA) related to car registration were majorly impacted.

Bhushan Sharma, a resident of Sushant Lok 1, said he has bought a new apartment and had to get it transferred to his name but owing to the strike, the documentation could not be done on Friday. “The seller lives abroad and had come for a week but if the strike continues, I will have to bear the seller’s cost of travel if he has to return a second time. There is no mechanism in the revenue department whereby someone else can take over the work in the absence of the clerk,” he said.

Ramesh Kumar, one of the clerks on strike, said their demands are long pending. “We should be included in the pay matrix level 6 of the Seventh Pay Commission and this was discussed several times with officials concerned and we were given an assurance that our salaries will be revised. But nothing has happened so far. We are demanding an increase in the basic pay from ₹19,900 to ₹35,400,” he said.

Gurugram deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav said government work at the tehsil level and in other departments have been majorly impacted by the ongoing strike. “The government clerks are on strike and we are looking for alternative options so that citizens do not suffer are able to get their work handled by other officials in each department,” he said.

Yadav said they will try to make some arrangements by Monday and will ensure all verticals of all departments are functional.

Anil Kumar, a clerk with Haryana Roadways and secretary of Clerks Association Welfare Society (CAWS), said they have been neglected for years. “The situation is the same in all government offices; so we all thought to come together and protest, so that the government is aware of our demands. Our salaries are not even ₹20,000 a month and it is difficult to survive on such a meagre amount and also ensure a good education and meals to children. Education and other expenses go up every year, the only thing that doesn’t is our salaries,” he said.

SS Rohilla, spokesperson of MCG, said the work at property ID office has been affected due to the strike. “We are managing with the help of other staff members and by Monday, we will come up with a solution to keep departments functional as the strike might go on for a longer period,” he said.