CHENNAI: The federation of various associations of revenue officials in Tamil Nadu (FERA) said 18,500 revenue staff began their boycott of all Special Intensive Revision (SIR) related work on Tuesday as announced earlier. This is apart from employees of other departments including rural development and social welfare, FERA added.
While FERA said SIR work took a significant hit across TN as a result and impact of the boycott would be stronger in coming days as pending work mounts, senior officials contended that SIR works were, by and large, continuing as usual. Reports from different districts indicated that the work continued in municipal corporations without any noticeable impact but a moderate impact was observed in other places.
FERA had announced the boycott citing extreme work pressure, an unrealistic timeline, inadequate training and inadequate human and financial resources for the roll revision exercise.
M P Murugaiyan, state coordinator, FERA, told TNIE that Revenue Secretary P Amutha and Commissioner of Revenue Administration M Saikumar met with FERA representatives. He said they had assured they would convey FERA’s demand to extend the enumeration period beyond December 4 to the Election Commission of India as only the commission could decide on it.
Both officers also promised to instruct the district administrations to prevent the “harsh treatment” meted out to the staff and the pressure to work till 1 am daily, Murugaiyan said.
“We have sought the assurances in writing. We will continue to boycott the SIR work on Wednesday,” he said, pointing out that an anganwadi worker in Kumbakonam, deputed as a booth level officer, had attempted to end her life.
He said a large number of teachers were engaged in urban areas where work seemed unaffected. As the work to be done by revenue staff is being dumped on teachers, they are also put to great hardship, he said.
In districts like Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul and Kanniyakumari, revenue officials said 300 to 500 employees boycotted SIR work. In Tiruchy, 1,400 BLOs out of 2,543, affiliated with the federation, did not turn up for work.
FERA also made another representation to Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik pressing their demands, including the extension of time frame for the SIR to three months.
Meanwhile, the one-day token strike called by the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisation (JACTTO-GEO) witnessed a mixed response. K Bhaskaran, state coordinator, JACTTO-GEO, said over one lakh employees took part in the strike, participation not seen in the last five years. JACTTO-GEO will meet next week to intensify the agitation, he said.
(With inputs from Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam, M P Saravanan @ Madurai, M Harini @ Virudhunagar, D Vincent @ Tiruchy and N Ramesh @ Thanjavur)