Protesting Rajasthan government employees to march to Ajmer to meet PM

Jaipur : Thousands of protesting Rajasthan government employees on a strike for several days will march to Ajmer on October 6 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the city.

"Representatives of around 50,000 employees will meet the Prime Minister during his visit on October 6, as our problems remain unresolved," Manoj Saxena, state president, Mantralaya Karamchari Mahasangh, told IANS here.

"We will wear white T-shirts with our demands written on it to draw his attention towards our problems," he added.

Key public services such as tranportation and healthcare have come to a halt in Rajasthan, as thousands of state employees have struck work to press for a slew of demands, including implementation of the 7th Pay Commission from January 2016, an increase in allowances, and filling up of vacancies in different departments.

Around 20,000 employees of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation have been on strike since September 16. As many as 4,500 buses remain off roads, inconveniencing around 10 lakh passengers.

Ministerial staff too, numbering about 50,000, have suspended work since September 19.

The state's Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) also joined the protests on Tuesday. Also, some pharmacists at SMS Hospital and other government hospitals suspended work from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

"Rajasthan has been turned into 'Hadtalistaan' under the BJP regime. The entire government machinery has crumbled and the Chief Minister has failed to deliver governance in state," said former Chief Minister and Congress General Secretary Ashok Gehlot.

Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said there was no point in taking out a Gaurav Yatra (BJP-sponsored), when the entire state machinery is in limbo.

BJP state president Madanlal Saini said: "The state government is considering their demands and has formed a ministerial committee to look into issues. The committee will soon come out with a suitable decision soon."

(Archana Sharma can be contacted at arachana.g@gmail.com)