CUDDALORE: The Tamil Nadu Government Office Assistants' and Basic Servants' Association urged the government to jettison its new recruitment policy on Group D services.

The State executive committee and the Association's general body, that met here on Saturday, passed a resolution decrying the new procedure, according to State president K. Ganesan and Cuddalore district president D. Srinivasan.

Addressing a press conference here, they said the government order number 91/06 dated July 6 facilitated the Ex-Servicemen Board and private agencies to hereafter recruit cadres for the Group D services, numbering 44 categories.

This included watchmen, night watchmen, gardeners, cleaners, scavengers and hospital workers. There were about two lakh such posts across the State, and the move would immediately affect 28,000 candidates, they said. In due course, 1.48 lakh prospective candidates on the rolls of employment offices would lose their chances.

Hence, the Association insisted that recruitment be made only through employment offices, as was the case till now. It appealed to the government to restore the "government employee" status to all the municipal employees.

It said an anomaly existed in the payment of retirement benefits: while one section (getting salary under the government heads) was getting Rs.10,000, another section (getting salary under the panchayat union heads) was given Rs.5,000. Such a disparity should be set right, it demanded.

The Association pointed out that even after Thiruvallur had become the district headquarters, employees there were paid only Grade-III allowances.

It requested the government to pay Grade-II allowances uniformly to all those posted at district headquarters.

It called upon authorities not to force night duty on the workers, as it violated the rules. It appealed to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to revive the practice of holding periodical meetings with representatives of recognised associations and unions.

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