Govt alienated its own men, now they seek revenge

The anti-government sentiment sweeping through government employees in Gandhinagar could work against Minister of State for Co-operation Vad...

The anti-government sentiment sweeping through government employees in Gandhinagar could work against Minister of State for Co-operation Vadibhai Patel, the BJP candidate seeking re-election.

Another factor working against him could be independent candidate Ashok Vakil (Patel), said to be sponsored by Shankersinh Vaghela of the Congress as a spoiler. The Congress candidate C.J. Chavda is Vaghela’s former officer on special duty, and it is to improve his chances that Vakil has been fielded to eat into Vadibhai Patel’s vote bank.

In this 2.62 lakh constituency, government servants form a sizable chunk. ‘‘The government has not bothered to fill up a single of the total 26,000 backlog vacancies, despite the assurance by Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela in the Assembly and a high court directive to clear the backlog. Employees haven’t taken denial of promotions as an austerity measure lightly. They are angry,’’ says Gujarat Utkarsh Karmachari Mandal president Jayanti Solanki.

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The Mandal has some 22,000 members, mostly belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes. Some 7,000 of them live in Gandhinagar, and their families could account for some 28,000 votes. They are annoyed that Gujarat has not implemented a central directive on their promotions despite Parliament passing the 85th amendment. ‘‘We have challenged this decision in court,’’ Solanki said.

Another 4,000 employees cutting across the caste and community barriers are also up in arms against the government’s ‘‘partisan’’ attitude towards them over the issue of residential plots.

The government’s decision not to allot plots to transferrable employees in Gandhinagar has prompted them to form a body called ‘Badli Patra Plot Vihin Karmachari Mandal’.

‘‘These employees and their family members (accounting for over 16,000 votes) will exercise their franchise in favour of the Congress candidate to register their protest,’’ asserted a senior member of the Mandal, Deepak Sonesara.

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The non-payment of dues accruing from the three per cent increase in the DA (Dearness Allowance) rates, and also the government’s reluctance to remove anomalies in their pay-scales has caused heartburn among its employees.

The Centre had already announced the three per cent increase in the DA rates for its employees in June, but the state government is yet to implement it. The government had constituted a Cabinet sub-committee to suggest measures to remove anomalies in employees’ pay-scales, which were detected following the 5th Pay Commission recommendations.

‘‘But the issue is still hanging fire,’’ lamented the Mandal leader. He dubbed as ‘‘poll-oriented’’ the payment of Diwali bonus and festival advance to class III and IV employees: ‘‘This roti thrown by the Modi regime won’t help his party get votes.’’