Jaya drops ESMA, rolls out sops for Govt workers

The Government also decided today not to renew TESMA. With this the Act, which labour unions in the State regarded as draconian, will lapse on Saturday.

TESMA had been enacted in 2002 but came into force the next year when Jayalalithaa came down hard on striking employees. The Act was reinforced by a 2003 Ordinance which allowed the CM to dismiss employees en masse without an inquiry and arrest those who defied the ban.

The Supreme Court later nullified the ordinance, directing the TN Government to reinstate nearly all the 1.75 lakh employees who struck work. But a few hundred workers were not reinstated.

However, soon after her party was routed in the 2004 Lok Sabha election Jayalalithaa withdrew the dismissal orders and rolled back many other decisions.

Today, the CM decided that the strike period — July 25, 2003 to February 10, 2004 — would be entered as a “duty period” on the Government employees’ logbooks.

“I have decided that there is no further need to keep reminding Government employees and teachers through a punitive provision of their bounden duty to serve the public without any disruption whatsoever,” Jayalalithaa said in a statement today.

She also announced a further Dearness Allowance instalment of three per cent, enhancing it from 64 to 67 per cent with effect from July 1, 2005. This will place state Government employees on par with their Central Government counterparts with retrospective effect.

“I am now convinced that the employees’ unions and teachers’ associations, have realised the folly of causing hardship to the people by taking a confrontationist stand,” the Chief Minister said.