Farooq's call to State employees

By Our Special Correspondent

JAMMU, JAN.31. Following the withdrawal of the strike by the government employees in Jammu and Kashmir, all the offices in the Civil Secretariat and outside opened this morning.

At a meeting attended by the State Finance Minister, Mr. Abdur Rahim Rather, the demand for the release of arrears on account of the fifth pay commission recommendations and two dearness allowance (DA) instalments due from January 1999, was discussed in the backdrop of the severe financial crisis the State was facing for the past two years.

The Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah told the union leaders to understand the problem. The State Cabinet, which met here this morning, ratified the decision taken at the joint meeting last evening.

Under the agreement, the Government would pay the DA instalments in cash for January and February, 2000. Mr. Rather, who played a crucial role in hammering out the deal, told The Hindu that the arrears on account of the fifth pay commission would be credited to the GP Fund accounts along with DA instalments from January to December 1999.

Payment of these instalments would be taken up with the Planning Commission in March. Mr Rather said financial implication on account of cash payments to the employees and pensioners would be around Rs 100 crores, which the government would release.

Dr. Abdullah said the State would take up with the centre, the matter of allocation of adequate funds for meeting the employees' demands.

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Section  : Regional
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