The Hindu Business Line : TN Govt to respond to SC on staff issue

THE Tamil Nadu Government is in the process of finalising its response to the Supreme Court on the petition filed by a section of the employees against their dismissal. On Monday, the apex court had come down strongly on the employees for going on strike and had suggested to the State Government that it take back the dismissed employees after imposing certain conditions.

The Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, held discussions with senior ministers and officials as also the Advocate General, Mr N.R. Chandran, today. It is expected that the Government will, in its affidavit, accept the Supreme Court's suggestion and also inform the court that it has already set in motion the process of taking back the employees who resorted to strike earlier this month.

However, the political leadership, according to reliable sources, is keen to assert its point that if the employees feel that they have a right to go on strike, then the administration has every right to determine when they can re-join duty.

Since the employees have not been attending office for most of this month, it is likely that the striking staff will lose their salary for July.

The political leadership is keen to assert the Government's right to govern and that it should not be threatened by the combined might of the civil servants.

The sources hope that the strike and the poor sympathy it evoked among the public as well the observations and orders of both the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court will be an eye-opener for Government employees all over the country.

When their counterparts in the private sector have been facing the issue of wage cuts and retrenchment for some years now, the Government employees can no longer take their position and benefits for granted.

According to the sources, after the changes that have been made in the manner of pension commutation or leave encashment, the Tamil Nadu Government employees are only getting the same as their counterparts in the Central Government.

The revision in commutation formula has been done in a falling interest rate regime, the sources point out and add that the Government cannot be expected to discount at low rates when it is offering investment opportunities at reasonable rates.

On the other hand, the Government has kept the latest trends in life expectancy while working out the commutation structure. The changes in the commutation formula and leave encashment are not expected to have any impact on the Government's finances in the short or medium term, and will only reflect on the finances in the long term, the sources say.

More important that the changes made in the pension commutation formula and leave encashment is the shifting to a contributory pension system, following the Government of India's announcement in the 2003-04 Budget. The Tamil Nadu Government is now waiting for the Centre to announce its scheme and will hitch itself on to the scheme. A number of other States are also expected to follow suit.

Under the new system, the employer and employee will contribute to the scheme and the employees can decide on what their contribution will be, which will, in turn, decide the size of their pensions.

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