Around six lakh employees of the Gujarat government today took casual leave en masse,seeking full implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Panel. The one-day agitation,which came in the election year,crippled the work in government offices. The employees have also demanded that Gujarat government should withdraw cases filed against their union leaders,and the transfers of unions' office bearers be revoked,but government refused,saying that there could not be any preconditions for talks with the employees. Taking a tough stand,the government declared the mass leaves 'unauthorised',saying that absence would be considered as 'a break in service',and truant employees would not get any allowances. "Work in the state offices across Gujarat came to a halt as around six lakh workers went on mass casual leave on Thursday,pressing the demand of implementation of Sixth Pay Panel recommendations," said Vishnu Patel,president,Gujarat State Employees Coordination Committee. "So far no fruitful discussion has taken place with the state government," he said. Sachivalaya Karamchari Sangh,which represents around 2,200 employees working in the state secretariat,did not join the mass leave agitation. State Assembly offices functioned as usual.
