By – Nepram Tombi Meitei
Imphal, July 9:
The Manipur Government Services Federation (MGSF) has threatened to intensify its cease-work strike, which entered its ninth day on Thursday, as the State Government has yet to meet its seven-point charter of demands. The prolonged agitation has severely disrupted the functioning of government offices across Manipur, bringing administrative processes to a near standstill and causing widespread inconvenience to the public.
The federation launched the indefinite cease-work strike on 1 July, demanding enhancement of the retirement age of State Government employees from 60 to 62 years, increase of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) from the existing 42 percent to 60 percent in line with Central Government employees, implementation of the 8th Pay Commission, scrapping of the National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in favour of restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), an end to the re-engagement of retired employees on a preferential basis, discontinuation of contractual appointments against sanctioned vacant posts, regularisation of contractual, casual, master roll and daily wage employees, restoration of Saturday as a weekly holiday, and service protection for Grade-III and Grade-IV AYUSH Medical Officers.
Although government offices across the State continue to witness near-normal attendance, official work has come to a virtual standstill as employees on cease-work refrain from processing files and carrying out routine administrative functions. The movement of files in many departments has been severely disrupted, resulting in delays in administrative approvals, financial sanctions, payment processing, encashment permissions, and the delivery of several essential government services.
The prolonged disruption has affected citizens awaiting official clearances and has slowed the implementation of numerous developmental programmes. Time-sensitive projects are particularly vulnerable, with delays threatening not only scheduled timelines but, in some cases, the successful completion of projects that have been planned over several years.
According to a senior official in the State Finance Department who requested anonymity, the cease-work strike is causing an estimated financial loss of ¹ 1.66 crore per day to the State Government. Based on this estimate, the cumulative loss over the first eight days of the strike has reached approximately Rs. 13.28 crore.
Officials pointed out that the estimated financial loss represents only the direct daily cost of the cease-work strike. The broader economic impact arising from stalled governance, delayed public services, disrupted administrative processes, and deferred developmental projects is likely to be considerably greater, although its full extent cannot yet be quantified.
The prolonged disruption comes at a crucial period for the State Government, which has a limited administrative window before the next Manipur Legislative Assembly elections, expected in February–March 2027.
Administrative observers believe that an early resolution of the impasse would be in the interest of both the Government and the public to minimise further disruption to governance and economic activity.
In an effort to resolve the deadlock, representatives of the MGSF recently met Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh. According to leaders of the federation, the Chief Minister assured them that the Government would consider revoking the order that cancelled Saturday holidays for State Government employees. However, he reportedly sought additional time to examine the remaining demands.
The employees’ federation stated that it is considering intensifying its agitation if satisfactory progress is not made on its principal demands.
Prior to meeting the Chief Minister, representatives of the federation also held discussions with the Chief Secretary, Puneet Kumar Goel on 3 July, although no concrete breakthrough emerged from the talks.
Among the seven demands, the federation has identified three as its immediate priorities: restoration of Saturday as a weekly holiday, enhancement of Dearness Allowance to bring it on par with Central Government employees, and raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 years.
While Central Government employees and employees in most Northeastern States currently receive 60 percent Dearness Allowance, Manipur Government employees continue to receive 42 percent. The federation has also argued that increasing the retirement age is justified because the upper age limits for recruitment—35 years for the general category, 38 years for OBC candidates and 43 years for SC/ST candidates—leave many employees with a comparatively shorter span of government service.
With negotiations yet to produce a breakthrough and the cease-work strike likely to be intensified, both the Government and the employees now face mounting pressure to arrive at an early settlement to restore normal functioning of the State administration and reduce the growing impact on governance and public services.
