1.25 lakh Maharashtra govt officers threaten to go on strike in August

Employees want the state to implement the seventh pay commission and raise the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, among other things.

More than 1.25 lakh officers of the state government have threatened to go on a three-day strike in August for various demands including implementation of the seventh pay commission and raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years of age.

Mantralaya, the state secretariat, in Mumbai. (HT File Photo/Used for representational purpose)

The Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers Confederation said they have been pressing for the implementation of these demands since long and now have decided to go on strike from August 7. MSGOC has over 1.25 lakh members of both Class-I and Class-II level officers. Their other demands are five-day work a week, two-year maternity leave for women officers following the central government’s decision, filling up 1.80 lakh vacant posts in a time-bound manner and others. GD Kulthe, chief convenor, MSGOC said, “We have waited for long and now have decided to go on three-day strike in protest. The decision was taken in the state executive meeting of the organisation held on May 30.” The Centre had announced to implement the recommendations of the seventh pay commission from January 1, 2016, but it was not implemented in the state owing to the financial burden of ₹23,000 crore.