MOHALI: As part of protests all over the State, Mohali Veterinarians held a sit-in at Deputy Director, Animal husbandary office, here today. The protest was held under the aegis of Joint Action Committee of Vets for Pay Parity to express displeasure against the " non-chalant attitude of Punjab Government towards restoring the pay parity of Vets with their counterparts in health department."
Speaking on the occasion, Co-Convenor of JAC Dr Abdul Mazid and former Joint Director Animal husbandary Punjab Dr Gurinder Singh Walia strongly condemned the Punjab government for delaying restoration of pay parity of Veterinary officers with Medical Officers, which had been in vogue for the past 47 years but disturbed by previous government in year 2021.
Dr Walia said that this disparity had been created by the Congress govt at their fag end, and was absolute disregard to the judgement of Punjab and Haryana high court and the 7th Central Pay commission recommendations which had been followed while revising pay scales from 1/1/2016. "As per 7th CPC, Veterinary Officers had been granted entry pay scale of Rs 56, 100/-, whereas in Punjab, entry scale of Rs 47, 600/- had been granted, he added.
Dr Nitin Gautam , President of district unit pointed out that it was ironical to note that in Chandigarh, Veterinary Officers of UT and those on deputation from Haryana were getting entry scale of Rs 56, 100/-, whereas those on deputation from Punjab were getting Rs 47, 600/-
This he added, was against widely accepted principle of "equal pay for equal work".
The leaders urged the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to intervene in this important matter and direct the Finance department to set right this aberration so that parity is maintained and there is no contempt of court.
Later, a memorandum containing the roster of demands was presented to the ADC and Deputy Director Animal Husbandry , SAS Nagar.