|
NEW
DELHI: While the pen down strike will continue, members of
the administrative staff of Prasar Bharati today decided to
call off a hunger strike in support of their demands following
an appeal by Information and Broadcasting secretary Asha Swarup.
The
employees, agitating under the aegis of the Akashwani and
Doordarshan Administrative Staff Association (ADASA) called
off the hunger strike by five of their members (which began
since 22 April) after they were assured that their demands
were already pending with the Group of Ministers.
Furthermore,
I and B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi has agreed to meet the employees on 27 April.
Dasmunsi
has also assured the employees that the Group of Ministers
will have a full discussion on their demands including upgraded
pay scales at its next meeting. The GoM had not been able
to discuss all issues due to paucity of time in its last meeting
on 4 April, according to ministry sources.
Dasmunsi as well as Swarup
had earlier met delegations of the employees on three occasions and asked them
to await the outcome of the GoM on the entire issue of Prasar Bharati employees
as well as its capital restructuring.
Ministry sources said several significant decisions have already
been taken and the entire issue is likely to be finalized
soon. They were assured that their demands would be placed
before the GoM as the issue has to be addressed in its totality.
Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer B S Lalli and its Member
(Personnel) had also met the employees on hunger strike and
appealed to them to call off the agitation.
The matter was also raised in the Lok Sabha yesterday by several
members during the debate on demands for grants for the ministry.
| 
