Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Dec 29 : Around 450,000 government employees across Chhattisgarh began a three-day statewide strike on Monday under the banner of the Chhattisgarh Employees and Officers Federation, pressing for the fulfilment of their 11-pronged charter of demands.

The protest, described as a complete work stoppage and pen-down agitation, will continue until December 31 and is expected to disrupt administrative functions at the block and district levels throughout the state. Federation leaders have warned that if the demands remain unaddressed after this phase, a more intense movement will follow.

The strike comes after previous representations to the government, including memorandums submitted earlier in the year, went unanswered on key issues affecting employees and pensioners. Central to the demands is the implementation of dearness allowance and dearness relief at par with central government rates from the due date, in line with what employees term as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantees.

They also seek adjustment of pending dearness allowance arrears since 2019 into employees' general provident fund accounts. Another major grievance involves making public the report of the Pingua Committee, formed to resolve pay anomalies affecting various cadres such as teachers, clerks, health department staff, and women and child development employees.

The federation is calling for a four-tier time-bound promotional pay scale after 8, 16, 24, and 32 years of service. Assistant teachers and assistant veterinary officers should receive a three-tier scale, while urban local body employees demand regular monthly salaries and time-bound promotions.

Other points include introducing cashless medical facilities similar to those in other BJP-ruled states, issuing permanent orders for unconditional compassionate appointments without the current 10 per cent ceiling and extending them to all direct recruitment posts, and increasing earned leave encashment to 300 days on the lines of Madhya Pradesh.

Employees further want all service benefits calculated from the date of first appointment, regularisation of Panchayat Secretaries, raising the retirement age to 65 years due to staffing shortages, and permanent regularisation of work-charged, irregular, daily wage, and contractual staff.

As offices remained largely empty on the first day, routine government work ground to a halt in many departments.

The federation has been conducting outreach campaigns to mobilise support, emphasising that the agitation is aimed at securing long-pending rights and benefits for the state's workforce. The government has yet to respond officially to the ongoing strike.

/IANS