Talks between UP govt, unions fail; logjam persists in UP

Strike by the Uttar Pradesh government employees entered ninth day today as talks between union and the state government failed to yield result.
The two-hour long meeting between the representatives of the union and the government, over the former's 15 point charter of demands, failed to reach at any conclusion.
"There was no agreement on any of the points in the two hour long talks with Principal Secretary (Personnel) Rajiv Kumar and the indefinite strike which today entered the ninth day would continue," leader of Rajya Kaamchari Adhikar Manch Hari Kishore Tiwari said.
On the request of the government, the striking employee leaders have decided to exempt the essential services like medical and health departments from the strike, Tiwari said.

The Allahabad High Court had directed the UP government yesterday to start a dialogue with the striking employees and resolve the matter.
The state government invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) last night.

Enacted in 1968, ESMA is aimed at maintaining essential services like post and telegraph, railways, airports, etc., and prohibits the key employees in these services from striking.
Tiwari claimed that work was adversely hit in trade tax, information directorate, shiksha bhawan, irrigation and PWD among others.
Meanwhile, a government spokesman said that despite the strike, work in offices including health department was going on smoothly.
Earlier, talks between the leaders of the striking employees and the Principal Secretary had failed on November 13.