Chennai: Tamil Nadu will release September salaries and pensions to state government employees today, five days ahead of schedule, following a similar decision by the Union government. The move comes in view of a three-day nationwide bank strike that could disrupt transactions.
Bank unions have announced a second phase of continuous strike from September 28 to 30, pressing demands including a two-day weekend, changes to what they call discriminatory measures between staff and officers, and opposition to the privatisation of IDBI Bank. With weekend holidays before the strike and Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 followed by additional holidays, banking operations could be affected for more than a week.
To reduce inconvenience, the Centre has said all banks will function on Sunday, September 27. However, the report notes that members of certain unions may not report for duty, raising the possibility that services and transactions could still be impacted.
As salaries and pensions were originally due on September 30, the Union Finance Ministry decided to advance payments to September 25. Acting on this, the Tamil Nadu government has instructed departments to submit salary, daily-wage and pension bills immediately so that treasuries and the accounts wing can process payments without delay.
The Director of Treasuries and Accounts has also directed pay and treasury officers to forward lists of employees, daily-wage workers and pensioners today itself, enabling early disbursal in view of the expected banking disruption.
