CSS staff on indefinite pen-down strike from May 20, 2022

The Central Secretariat Service (CSS) will be going on strike due to the failure to resolve long-standing concerns. A notice of non-cooperation has been issued to the secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training in North Block, Central Delhi.

These authorities have been pleading for a speedy decision on the promotion of officials, which has been six years in the making. According to the notice, all ministries, with the exception of DoPT, which CSS falls under, are regularly issuing promotion orders for all personnel. In talks with DoP&T CS-I Division Officials about the subject, they were all adamant that they would work in the sluggish, traditional, and procedural approach, which would take years to bring CSS promotions up to speed.

The officers have declared that they will follow their Cadre Controlling Authority's lethargic and uninterested approach (CCA). The officers have also said that they will not work past 5.30 p.m. unless the issues are rectified by May 15, 2022, at which point the non-cooperation campaign will culminate in a "indefinite pen-down strike in the whole Central Secretariat beginning May 20, 2022."

According to the announcement, CSS Officers will wear black on one day of the week as a symbol of their hopelessness, and they will report all true staff requirements to their respective admins, who will then forward the information to DoPT.

Read: Centre initiates granting long due promotions for CSS officers

"Until recently, DoPT has stated that they are not marketing due to a Supreme Court lawsuit pending on reservation in CC promotions. The Supreme Court ruling was issued in January 2022, and the directions were issued on April 12, 2022, but the department has done nothing since then," stated Manmohan Verma, general secretary of the Central Secretariat Forum. CSS Group B officers and CSS Organised Group A officers belong to this group. Another department (CS-II Division, CCA of Central Secretariat Stenographers Service (CSSS) officers) has begun to issue promotion letters within 15 days of the rules being announced, according to the Association's letter.

The CSS is an administrative service within the Secretariat of the Central Government. The Department of Personnel and Training is the central government's personnel coordination department.

Several of their top executives have retired without receiving their due promotions, resulting in financial loss, according to Verma. Furthermore, in-service officers due for promotions, particularly those from the SO 2012 and ASO 2012 batches, have already suffered cumulative lifelong financial losses of lakhs of rupees in increments and are facing a loss of another increment due on July 1, 2022, according to the notice to the DoPT.

The Association claims that the CS-I Division has failed to act on other legitimate demands made by CSS officials in a meeting on February 8, 2022, as promised by Minister of State Jitendra Singh.

According to the PIB press release, Dr. Jitendra Singh gave the CSS delegation a patient hearing and told them that the DoPT would take all necessary steps to resolve all outstanding concerns, including court proceedings.

The CSS officers gathered outside the Department of Personnel and Training, which is part of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pension, on February 25, 2022. The employees said that over 30% of CSS posts in the middle to senior management ranks in various Central ministries were empty at the time, due to the Union government's failure to promote CSS officials during the previous six years.