Tamil Nadu   

2003 strike period will be considered as `on duty'

Special Correspondent

All employees issues are being looked into: Karunanidhi

IN CONVERSATION: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with Secretariat Staff Association president K. Pandurangan in Chennai on Friday. — Photo: M. Vedhan

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Friday said the period of general strike of Tamil Nadu Government employees — between July 1-4, 2003 and on April 10, 2003 — will be considered as `on duty.'

"I have come here after signing the order for this," Mr.Karunanidhi said. The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association to felicitate him here.

This was one of the long-standing demands of the employees, which was not accepted by the previous government.

Stressing on the fact that delivering good governance depended on the cooperation of the employees, Mr.Karunanidhi said that a government could not be effective if its Ministers and senior officials alone worked well. He said that all issues of employees were being looked into and he had been taking "quick decisions" on these. He chose to make a distinction between "quick decision" and "hasty decision" and said that quick decisions took a government closer to the people.

Mr.Karunanidhi faulted the Jayalalithaa government for not following established procedure on many serious issues. She had not cleared many of the files relating to crucial issues. He said the grant of solatium to 153 police personnel and World Bank-aided tsunami relief were two instances. In both cases, the files relating to the expenditure were not cleared before the amounts were disbursed, he said.

In the case of the tsunami project, the total expenditure was Rs.1852 crore and the file had come to him for "after issue" clearance. In another case of compassionate appointment for an official who was killed by a sand-laden truck, he said the former Chief Minister had not signed the file. Even this job was left to him.

"I have signed the file granting the job of a junior assistant to Asha, daughter of Venkatesan yesterday," he said.

He said the Government had, in principle, accepted that benefits for all employees should be equal. The discrepancies that exist between those in the Finance department and other departments would be sorted out soon.

No two signatures daily

Mr.Karunanidhi said that employees would not be required to sign twice each day. According to a 2003 order, the employees had to sign both at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The Chief Minister said this was very degrading for the employees and hence, the order has been scrapped.

Association president K.Pandurangan highlighted the difficulties and trauma faced by the employees when they were dismissed and arrested following the 2003 strike. He said that employees heaved a sigh of relief when Mr.Karunanidhi annulled the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act. In the previous regime, promotions were held up for months on end while Mr.Karunanidhi signed them as soon as the file reached him, he said.

Secretary J.Ganesan, joint secretary (general) M.Sundararajan and treasurer S.Kannan were among those who spoke. The Association presented Mr.Karunanidhi with a memento and a shawl.

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