JK govt staff call off strike on CM's assurance

Jammu and Kashmir government employees called off their week-long strike on Tuesday evening following an assurance by the state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that their demands would be considered.

The announcement brought some relief to the state government, which has been reeling under the consequences of the strike by its 4.5 lakh employees for the past eleven days.

The Civil Secretariat is the nerve centre of the state government and Tuesday's decision by the 4000-member Civil Secretariat Non-Gazetted Employees Union would make the seat of power functional.

However, the other employees unions in the two state capitals -- Jammu and Srinagar -- are yet to react to the chief minister's fresh call to end their strike.

Earlier, the chief minister had said that 'the government was always open to talks and the talks could only happen after the employees called off their strike'.

Talking to the media persons on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of the chief justice of the state high court in Jammu, Omar said: "The high court has already declared the strike as illegal and so the employees should resume their duties immediately."

The employees have been demanding enhancement of the retirement age from 58 to 60 years and release of HRA and arrears as per the recommendations of the 6th pay commission.

Omar said the issue of upping the retirement age from 58 to 60 years needed wider consultation and public debate because such a move would have its ramifications. On the HRA demand, the chief minister said that the matter had already been decided between the cabinet sub-committee and the employees.

"So far as the issue of arrears is concerned, it will take the government 2 to 3 months to make a road map as to how to pay the arrears to the employees," he added.