Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 16: NABARD officers observed a full day nation-wide strike today to protest against the anomalies in the wage revision created by an order issued by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Union Ministry of Finance.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajesh Badyal, secretary AINBOA, Jammu & Kashmir unit said that the officers of NABARD had been on agitation ever since the DFS issued a wage settlement order on 14 September followed by the Administrative Circular on 21 September 2022. “After many representations and rounds of dialogues with the officials of DFS over last two months, we are left with no other choice but to go on strike, which will be followed by a march to Parliament and hunger strike,” he added.
Badyal said first, the order introduced dual and differentiated pay for the same cadre of officers – higher for those who had come from Reserve Bank of India at the formation of NABARD in 1982 and lower for those directly recruited by NABARD. He said one of the allowances reduced is Grade Allowance which is paid as per the grade of an officer. However, according to the DFS order, officers in lower grades are drawing higher grade allowance than officers in higher grade thereby making a mockery of the nomenclature ‘grade’.
“This is in contravention to ‘equal pay for equal work’ in the same organization. The reduction of allowances for officers recruited by NABARD in the eighth settlement (2017-2022 period) reduced their gross emoluments leading to huge impact on superannuation benefits including pension. The financial loss and the humiliation have infuriated the officers’ community of NABARD leading to this present agitation and strike call”, Badyal said.
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