The government employees of Karnataka on Wednesday announced that they are withdrawing the protest and will get back to their duties. The announcement came after Karnataka government passed interim order, declaring the pay hike to state government employees from April 1. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that his government will constitute a committee to submit a report on the possibilities of reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme(OPS).
Speaking with the reporters, Basavaraj Bommai said, “We will provide 17% hike to all government employees in the state and orders regarding the same are already issued. The 7th pay commission has already been appointed and I already discussed it with the employee associations. “
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The major demands of the protesting employees were the revision of their salaries, implementation of the 7th pay commission report and reintroduction of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). “We will constitute a special committee under additional chief secretary, and it will submit a detailed study on the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and how other state governments are implementing it. Within two months, the committee will submit the report and even that issue will be resolved. I request the employees to end the protest and get back to their duties,” added the chief minister.
The government services in the state apart from the essential services were stalled in the state as over 80,000 employees reportedly extended their support to the protest which began on Wednesday. The employee associations also claim that they worked hard during the pandemic and few employees had even lost their lives.
