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Dismissed employees' wait may end on Monday

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Aug. 9. The anxious wait continues for a section of employees even though clear-cut cut instructions issued by the Government offered some relief for those who ``qualify'' under the provisions. The wait for most of the yet-to-be reinstated employees is expected to end on Monday.

At the Secretariat, a few departments today displayed the list of suspended employees. Earlier, these employees were dismissed for having taken part in the strike. This ``reduction'' followed the recent Supreme Court order. Sources said in the offices at the Ezhilagam complex, as many as 300 were reinstated today, after they gave an undertaking as directed by the apex court. However, there was no formal announcement from the Government.

Some employees were of the opinion that the instructions from the Chief Secretary, Lakshmi Pranesh, issued on Saturday, cleared the air; they were finally sure of where they stood.

There was no crowd of employees at the Secretariat today, a holiday, and some Government Secretaries and civil servants turned up to complete their pending work. Though some employees were seen in front of the Chief Secretary's room in the morning, they left in the afternoon after they realised that she would not turn up at the office today.

According to the State Government's interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling, ``the reinstatement would be effective from July 25.'' The ``test'' or condition for reinstatement are: the employee should not have been arrested, he or she should not be an employee of Secretariat falling under certain identified categories, the individual should not be an officer falling under particular categories, the first information report pending should only be under Section 4 of the ESMA and not involve Section 5 of Act.

``Careful verification of the FIRs furnished by the police is therefore necessary.''

Certain identified categories include all 2211 employees and teachers who were arrested under the ESMA and subsequently dismissed.

They will not be reinstated — irrespective of under the section, an FIR has been registered against them, notes a letter from the Chief Secretary to all Secretaries, Heads of Departments, District Collectors and Commissioner of Police and SPs.

Meanwhile, employees wondered if the dismissal constituted a break in service or if the Government would issue a blanket order to ensure that there was no break in service. In any case, many seemed sure that they would not receive the full pay for the period they did not work.

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