Karnataka: Government work stalled as secretariat staff skip work

Movement of files was hit and the Vidhana Soudha wore a deserted look as some 3,000 employees of the government secretariat went on mass leave on Friday.

They skipped work in protest against the government’s plan to scrap jobs based on recommendations of the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2.

If the government does not meet their demands, the employees have threatened to go on an indefinite protest.

Speaking to DH, Karnataka Government Secretariat Employees Association president P Guruswamy claimed their protest was a 100% success. “All the employees voluntarily cooperated. None of us went to work today. We regret the inconvenience caused to the public as movement of files was affected. However, the government gave us no choice as they kept ignoring our repeated requests to resolve our issues,” he said.

According to Guruswamy, the Administrative Reforms Commission-2 headed by former Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar leads to scrapping certain government posts as its report recommends rationalising government posts by removing “non-essential” posts. Even though the Association has repeatedly sought an audience with both the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister, their requests were ignored, Guruswamy said.

While the employees will resume work from Monday, if the government does not roll back the decision on cutting down jobs, they will go on an indefinite strike, he added.