In the first time in decades, around 15,000 clerks of Haryana have gone on a strike in the state paralysing the functioning of government offices and leaving most seniors officers without the vital help that they need in ensuring effective governance. The clerks, who completed 15 days of their strike on Wednesday, have one demand that has forced them to hit the protest path — basic pay equivalent to similar rank posts in the government departments. According to the protesting clerks, in 1957, a government clerk was getting a basic pay of Rs 60 to Rs 175 monthly. The other government employees of similar level were getting the same or less salary at that time. “But now the basic salary of other similar ranked officials — like JBT (junior basic teacher), junior engineer, deputy ranger in forest department, and multi-purpose health workers (MPHW) in health department — are getting basic pay at the rate of Rs 35,400 per month while the clerks were getting basic pay of Rs 19,900 per month,” says Vikrant Tanwar, president of Clerical Association Welfare Society (CAWS). The clerks, with the sole demand of an increase in their basic pay to a minimum of Rs 35,400 monthly, went on a strike on July 5 this year. A few days after that, Haryana Ministerial Staff Association affiliated to Sarv Karmachari Sangh — an umbrella body of government employees in Haryana — joined hands with the protesters. The strike, multiple sources in the government admitted, has almost paralyzed the official functioning related to registration of land deals, registration of vehicles, issuance of driving licenses, birth certificates, and student passes for travel in roadways buses, apart from also affecting department functioning at the district headquarters and block level across the state. Tanwar claimed that the office assistants, deputy superintendents and superintendents too are participating in the strike taking the number of those on strike to nearly 25,000. The protesters have stated that neighbouring Punjab was offering a basic pay of Rs 32,100 per month to its clerks which is much higher than that of Haryana. Ahead of the 2014 state Assembly polls, the then Congress government, headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had announced to upgrade pay scales of the clerks and make them equivalent to Punjab if voted to power. However, the Congress lost the elections and with it the hopes of the clerks and other employees were dashed. As per details, the protesting clerks are not only boycotting the office work as part of their strike but also holding dharnas and blood donations camps at the district level in the state. In an attempt to resolve the ongoing standoff, Haryana CM's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Jawahar Yadav has already held a meeting with the protesters once. Yadav told The Indian Express, “A basic pay of Rs 35,400 per month is not possible for us to give at the moment. But we are hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon. To ensure smooth functioning of tehsils, we are considering giving more powers to tehsildars so that the work of land registration is not hampered due to ongoing agitation.” Yadav also claimed that the strike hadn't hampered the functioning of offices majorly. On their part, keeping in view the floods in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, the protesting clerks have decided to participate in all rescue operations and other relief-related tasks in the above areas.
