List steps taken to break deadlock: Delhi HC

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 11. The Delhi High Court today sought clarification from the Centre on the steps it proposed to take to restore normalcy in the postal sector and whether it was planning to impose the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to bring an end to the ongoing strike.

In another development, postal federations said the offer being made by the Government through the Central Labour Commissioner was neither new nor novel. At the conciliation meeting today, the Government had offered to refer all demands to a committee.

Sources said the Government was considering the implications of redesignating the three lakh extra-departmental agents as rural postpersons. The proposal, along with some others, was sent to the Law Ministry last week.

The Government wants to ensure that the designation will not lead to court cases by Enforcement Directorate agents demanding other privileges extended to civil servants. It plans to seek undertakings from postal federations that their members will refrain from approaching courts. At the moment, the federations are opposed to signing such an undertaking. The former Delhi Chief Minister, Mr. Sahib Singh Verma, is understood to have initiated Track-II talks to bring about a negotiated solution.

Meanwhile, acting on a public interest litigation which said that the Communications Ministry and postal officials had not taken adequate steps to avert the strike, the court directed the Additional Solicitor General, Mr. K.K. Sud, to take instructions from the Government and inform the court by December 13.

The PIL sought directions to the Government for taking immediate steps to end the strike which entered the seventh day. The matter, posted for hearing today, was adjourned to Wednesday after Mr. Sud said he would have to take instructions from the Government. ``Take whatever stern action you deem fit, we want that the postal services are normalised,'' observed the bench.

The PIL said people from all walks of life had been affected by the strike and a developing country like India could not afford these kind of agitations in essential services.

The postal federations have called a convention on Wednesday to discuss the future course of strike. Federation leaders said the strike will continue till the Government offered them an honourable solution. On the other hand, the Government said it was making special arrangements all over the country to ensure transmission and delivery of mail. In Tamil Nadu, special efforts were made to distribute old-age pensions in Chennai in coordination with the State Government.

The Bangalore GPO was kept open on Sunday and many other post offices offered the full range of postal services. In Delhi, 98 bags relating to international speed post taken from air couriers were processed and delivered. As many as 167 speed-post forward bags were handed over to Indian Airlines for various destinations.

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