Following an assurance from newly appointed Chief Secretary J S Saharia on Monday,the Mantralaya Gazetted Officers Federation has postponed its proposed strike from Tuesday in protest against allocation of inadequate office space to senior officials under the ongoing Mantralaya makeover work and other related grievances. Saharia said he had directed Public Works Department (PWD) secretary Shamal Mukherjee to look into the demands of the officers and make changes that are possible. No demolition of what is already constructed will be carried out. However,wherever modification is possible,the same will be carried out, Saharia said. Officials are upset about much smaller office spaces being allotted for desk officers,under secretaries,deputy secretaries and joint secretaries. While a GR issued on November 7,1986,stipulates the size of office that each of these categories should get,the Federation has complained the spaces allocated after renovation are much smaller. Their contention is that while IAS officers and heads of various departments have been assigned office spaces that are almost double in size than the entitlement as per the notification,office spaces earmarked for non-IAS officers of various categories do not even meet the norms. Shrikant Pulkundwar,deputy president of the MGOF,said,The heads of departments are eligible for 350-sq ft offices as per the GR. They have been allotted swanky 590-sq ft offices on the renovated floors. A desk officer has been allocated 20 sq ft of office space even though he is entitled to 80 sq ft. Similarly,officers of the rank of joint secretary and deputy secretary have been assigned only 100 sq ft of spaces while spaces of 57 sq ft have been earmarked for under secretary-level officers. The concept of open office has also not gone down too well with officers. Earlier,we had cabins,but now we have open cubicles. Certain matters are confidential and require concentration. For this purpose,we have demanded the height of cubicle panels to be raised up to eight feet, said Pulkundwar. While former chief secretary J K Banthia claimed that all stakeholders were made a part of the initial design stage,Pulkundwar said they were not consulted at all despite having sent a letter to the CS weeks after the June 21 fire that gutted top three floors of Mantralaya. He said they are also opposed to two doors on each floor that open only through biometric system. There are only two exits which are very narrow and they will open only electronically. In case of a disaster and a power outage,these floors will be like death traps, Pulkundwar said. Apart from the makeover issue,these officials are also opposing the governments bid to protect 44 officers of the rank of deputy collectors,who were temporarily promoted to the selection grade of additional district collectors,against them being repatriated to their parent department after their three-year stints as private secretaries to some ministers. MGOF president Ramchandra Dhanawde said that the government,under political pressure,even issued a Government Resolution (GR) on March 28,2011,granting protection to these 44 officers. Saharia has directed additional chief secretary P S Meena to hold a meeting of all the officers concerned in Nagpur during the Assembly Session and address their issues mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
