Maharashtra: Breakthrough for govt as two unions withdraw from strike

Eighteen lakh state employees went on an indefinite strike over their demand for the implementation of the old pension scheme OPS on Tuesday but by the evening the two unions of primary teachers and health workers decided to withdraw from the protest from WednesdayPresident of Prathamik Shikshak Sangh which has 350 lakh members Sambhaji Thorat said the central union of the state employees that had given the call for the strike should abandon its adamant attitude discuss the issue with the government and withdraw the protest Thorat claimed one of the health employee unions has decided to go to work from WednesdayldquoThe CM and Dy CM are positive towards our demand We are willing to give the government more time to find a solution A committee of bureaucrats and employee unions will study the issue and come out with a solutionrdquo said Thorat claiming that his union was never in favour of the strike because CM Eknath Shinde had promised them action during their conclave in KonkanAlso Read Maharashtra State govt staff strike could affect boardsA statement from the CMO said Tuesdayrsquos meeting was successful when it was said that the system would crumble because of the strike On Tuesday the strike impacted offices and institutions like hospitals So far gazetted officers have stayed away from the call but their union has promised to join the agitation in the last week of March if the principal demand is not metBut the gazetted officers may not be able to deliver for long without the support staff The issue was raised in the legislature for the second consecutive day The meeting of employee unions CM Eknath Shinde Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis and opposition leaders Ajit Pawar and Ambadas Danve failed on Monday because the unions felt that the government was not forthcoming with clarity but tried to buy time to find a solution that would be acceptable to the employeesHowever there was a silver lining to the agitation which was expected to affect the conduct of the board examinations Junior college teachers have decided to supervise the examination but will not evaluate the papers If the agitation is prolonged the exam result may be delayed In some places the teachers of government and semigovernment schools went to their workplaces but stayed away from classrooms Reports from across the state said that the strike has affected hospitalsIn the legislative council senior minister Chandrakant Patil said that the government hadnrsquot rejected the demand but sought to form a committee of retired officers to find a suitable solution to the problemPawar told media persons that the government should understand how some smaller states could revise the OPS and being a bigger state in terms of economy it should try ways to revive the scheme He dismissed the observation that his partyrsquos government was in power in 2005 when the OPS was stopped ldquoIt was the then Central governmentrsquos decision The people who were recruited after 2005 feel that the people union leaders who had nothing to lose because they were covered in the OPS signed an agreement with the government on their behalfrdquo said PawarNotably when he was the finance minister in the MVA government Pawar had opposed OPS on financial grounds His contention was that the increased expenditure on salary and pension would not leave substantial funds available for developmental activities Incumbent FM Fadnavis had reiterated Pawarrsquos observation in the house in December last while cautioning against the financial burden the OPS would create for the state treasuryUddhav Thackeray backed the agitation ldquoWhat has stopped the government from reviving OPS It should not worry much about the expenses because it has the backing of Mahashakti The Shiv Sena is in support of the employees and their families Some states have already revived OPS Why is the lsquoobligedrsquo government playing gamesrdquo the former CM said in a statementChief minister saysMaking a statement in the Vidhan Sabha late Tuesday evening CM Eknath Shinde announced a committee of three retired additional chief secretaries Subodh Kumar KP Bakshi and Sudhir Shrivastav to recommend ways to meet the employeesrsquo demands The panel has been told to submit its report in three monthslsquoPatients will suffer if strike continuesrsquoGovernment employees of Class 3 and 4 also joined the strike on Tuesday seeking the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme OPS On day one there was not much impact on services provided by some hospitals such as that of the JJ group but the medical fraternity fears that if the strike continues patients will suffer According to hospital officials on average around 90 to 100 surgeries are performed every day at JJ hospitals On Tuesday majority of scheduled surgeries were performed and very few nonemergency surgeries were postponed Speaking to midday JJ Hospital Dean Dr Pallavi Saple said ldquoWe held OPD and performed surgeries like on routine days I took assistance from the BMC and we also asked for nursing support We have contractual people for cleaning and sweeping toordquoAccording to officials in the JJ group of hospitals around 1500 nurses are on strike with around 1200 Class 4 employees These include cleaning staff security guards and room maids Apart from this around 700 clerks and persons who look after technical work were also off duty A senior official from JJ hospital said ldquoUsually we donrsquot see much impact on day one but if it continues for a couple of more days then the impact will be seen on patientsrsquo services Currently patients who need immediate medical attention are being admittedrdquo A doctor at GT Hospital said ldquoThe hospital performs around 7 to 8 surgeries every day but on Tuesday due to unavailability of staff surgeries were postponed However nursing students looked after the IPD patients2005Year OPS was stopped