Report and pics from Rajtilak Naik in Panaji
Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (MB)

Panaji, Mar 9: Around 5000 Government employees came on the streets of Panaji on Thursday and staged a morcha, to press their long-pending demands that had been presented to the state Government.

Employees from different government departments took part in the morcha, right from the Pwd to Electricity, from River navigation to Education, from Art and culture to Sports. Their main focus was on the restoration of leave encashment facility, parity in pay scales, traveling allowances and so on.

The 5000-strong morcha started from the Church square in Panaji around 2.30 pm but was stopped at the mouth of the Mandovi Bridge by the police.

Later a delegation of the Goa Government Employees Association went in the Goa Assembly to meet the chief minister but the CM refused to meet them. Enraged by this, the agitators went on to block the Mandovi Bridge thus hampering the traffic flow. They stayed put until 8 pm.

The government employees finally decided to give the government an ultimatum of 24 hours to meet their demands, failing which all the Goverment offices will remain closed. This can affect the water supply, electricity supply and the ferry service in the state.