The visitors at the municipal corporation (MC) offices on Thursday had a harrowing time as the employees observed a day-long strike in protest against the recommendations of 6th Pay Commission.
The MC offices wore a deserted look with no employees or officials on their seats; the services at MC suvidha kendras also remained suspended.
The residents who visited the MC office for submitting dues of property tax/water-sewer user charges; avail trade licences, TS1 certificates (NOC) for buildings; among other works had to return empty-handed.
The staff of MC Zone C office on Gill road also closed the entry gates for visitors as the officials were not available at their respective offices due to the strike. The sanitation services like sweeping, cleaning of sewer lines, etc, however, continued as usual in the city.
Intimate us about strike in advance: Residents
The visitors rued that the MC should not harass the people in their fight against the government, and even if it was necessary, the residents should intimate the residents about the same in advance.
One Gurcharan Singh of Gurdev Nagar, who came to submit his property tax, said, “The MC employees should not harass the public while fighting with the government over any issue. I will again have to visit the MC office to submit the dues, which will result in wastage of time.”
{{/usCountry}}One Gurcharan Singh of Gurdev Nagar, who came to submit his property tax, said, “The MC employees should not harass the public while fighting with the government over any issue. I will again have to visit the MC office to submit the dues, which will result in wastage of time.”
{{/usCountry}}A resident of Chaura Bazar area, Amandeep Singh, said, “The building inspector had asked me to enquire about my building plan on Thursday and now they have announced a strike. The working at government offices should not be disturbed; as it is the files move at a snail’s pace.”
The members of the Municipal Employees Sangharsh Committee stated that the strike was announced against the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission regarding the pay scales among other issues. The president of the employees’ union, Jasdev Sekhon, said that only the office staff observed the strike and that essential services like sweeping were not stopped.
“Regular work at the MC office will resume from Friday and further decisions regarding the agitation will be taken as per the directions received from the state-level unions of other departments protesting over the issue,” added Sekhon.
Meanwhile in Patiala, a group of over 100 MC employees also participated in the agitation organised by state-level unions on Thursday.