A plea has been filed in the Bombay High Court against the indefinite strike by State Government Employees โ paramedics, sanitation workers and teachers, demanding implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) โ saying that it is affecting patients and students alike.
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ
Advocate Gunaratan Sadavarte filed an intervention application seeking directions to the striking employees to immediately withdraw the ongoing strike over the new and old pension scheme issue of Maharashtra government employees.
๐ ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฆ
Lakhs of employees in Maharashtra have been on an indefinite strike since March 14, 2023, seeking restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which had been scrapped in 2005 by the then state government. The strike has reportedly affected the health services at government hospitals, schools, and colleges. It has also impacted government offices in rural areas.
Sadavarte mentioned the plea before a bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne pointing out that the strike includes public health service employees working in state-run hospitals, sanitation workers and teachers.
๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ: ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ
He submitted that due to such strikes, patients in government-run hospitals were suffering. Also, citizens, who required documentation from various departments, were also returning empty handed as their work was getting stalled. The application pointed out that the timing of the strike overlapped with the upcoming Class 10 and 12 board examinations.
Sadavarte's application has been filed in a pending public interest litigation of 2014 where the court had expressed hope that no more strikes would occur, leading to suffering for patients.
The advocate clarified that while he was not against the rights of the employees, such strikes should not affect the citizens and students. His application states that the government has announced that it would set up a committee to look into the demand. He argued that without looking into the โpositive/ affirmative stepsโ taken to look into the demands, the employees proceeded to go on an โillegal strikeโ and continue to do so.
โDue to this, the services in hospitals, educational institutes, government establishments, tax offices and even the district collector offices have completely shut,โ read the plea. It adds: โNot getting the treatment well in time and postponement of surgeries due to the strike is violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The strike would be a political tool and due to which the innocent citizens should not suffered.โ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ
Further, the strike is against provision of the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act, 2023 (MESMA).
The plea urged that the court direct the employees to call off the strike. Also, he has prayed for the court to call for records on the strike to find out the number of employees on strike and also if there have been any casualties due to such a strike.
