K'taka govt staff call off strike

Barely two hours after commencing a day-long strike on Thursday to press their charter of demands, Karnataka government employees called it off following an assurance by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to consider their demands "sympathetically."

The demands include merger of 50 per cent of dearness allowance with basic pay, enhancing retirement age from 58 years to 60, payment of 10 per cent interim relief by this month end, and a policy guideline on transfer of officials.

The employees association president H N Seshagowda, after holding talks with the chief minister, announced at a press conference that the strike had been withdrawn with immediate effect.

Gowda said the chief minister had promised that the employees demands would be placed before the cabinet for a decision soon and payment of interim relief would be decided before Ugadi festival, falling on March 30.

Recently, the fifth pay commission, constituted by the state government to revise pay scales of its employees, submitted its interim report recommending payment of interim relief.