Govt appeals to engineers to call off strike

PATNA: Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday appealed to the engineers to call off their indefinite strike and promised they would not be penalized for remaining absent during the strike period. The engineers have been on strike since February 6.
Making a statement in legislative assembly, Modi claimed a section of the engineers employed in water resources department and road construction department have already resumed their duties.He hoped others would follow.
Modi informed the house that the government would 'sympathetically' consider the engineers' demands soon after calling off their agitation.
The deputy CM, who was replying to a call attention notice of Bhai Virendra, RJD, and others, regretted that the engineers did not respond to the appeal of the water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chowdhary and RCD minister Nandkishore Yadav, who were authorized to negotiate with them. Instead, they proceeded on strike.
Modi said the demand for payscale revision and promotions was considered by a fitment committee set up by the state government. The government has acted on its recommendations. An appellate committee headed by Justice Aftab Alam (now in Supreme Court) had examined the recommendations. The demand for payscale of executive engineers on a par with nonfunctional junior administrative grade (JAG) officers could not be implemented so far. The government is engaged in identifying the responsibilities and equivalent posts of JAG officers. The state government will take a decision on this demand soon, he promised.
Rural development minister Nitish Mishra, while replying to a call attention notice of Kanhaiya Kumar, Kaushal Yadav and others, said the government on March 5 received the report of an inquiry committee set up by Nawada DM to look into charges of corruption against Rajauli BDO. The BDO has been found to have violated the rules related to allotment of Indira Awas and grants under the CM Kanya Vivah (marriage) Scheme. Action would be taken against the officer after seeking an explanation from him, he said.