Aizawl, Apr 15 (PTI) Responding to a call given by the All Mizoram CSS Employees Coordination Committee (AMCECC), over 15,000 workers employed under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the state began a three-day strike on Tuesday demanding regularisation of jobs under the state government.

The Mizoram government said that it has been taking measures for regularisation and asserted that only those workers, who are recruited following appropriate recruitment procedure under the existing rules, could be regularised.

AMCECC president Malsawmtluanga Hauhnar said that the workers have been demanding the implementation of the “Mizoram Regularisation of CSS Employees Scheme” notified on 18 June last year.

He said that the committee has long been urging the state government to regularise the services of the CSS employees.

“While we are waiting for the implementation of the regularisation scheme, the state government issued an office of memorandum in October last year laying down several regularisation norms or checklists which can’t be met by the workers thereby hindering our regularisation,” he told PTI.

“We began a three-day pen/tool down strike starting Tuesday after we found that the government has no intention of solving our problems,” he said.

Hauhnar also blamed the state government for allegedly issuing an order notifying the enforcement of CSS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the ‘No Work No Pay’ policy on Monday, while talks were still on.

“The AMCECC sees the government’s move as an insult and intimidation to the CSS employees,” he said.

He said that the committee will decide its future course of action if the government fails to take any positive measures during the three-day strike, which is scheduled to be called off on Thursday.

Meanwhile, H Lalengmawia, who assumed charge as the state’s chief secretary, said that the government is taking all possible steps to regularise their services.

He, however, said that the CSS employees’ regularisation scheme can be applied to only those workers, who are appointed through proper recruitment procedures using advertisement (open competition) and recommended by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) as per the rules.

Lalengmawia told a press conference that majority of the CSS employees particularly under the National Health Mission (NHM) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are recruited without following appropriate recruitment procedures.

“Since many of the CSS employees are recruited illegally or without proper recruitment procedures, their regularisation or public appointment under the government will be a breach of Articles 14 and 16 (of the Constitution),” Lalengmawia said.

He said that he met with leaders of AMCECC on Monday and urged them not to proceed with the strike.

Lalengmawia said that the government would be compelled to take stringent measures even to the extent of terminating the employees on strike if the agitation continues.

The AMCECC claimed that the total number of CSS employees is more than 15,000. PTI COR NN