Northeast employee federations unite in Shillong for pay parity and OPS restoration

The Confederation of Service Associations of Arunachal Pradesh (CoSAAP) Secretary General, Gonya Riba, represented Arunachal Pradesh government employees at the General Meeting of the Meghalaya State Government Employees’ Federation (MAGEF), held at the State Convention Centre in Shillong on September 12.

The meeting, which brought together leaders of government employees’ federations from various Northeast states, unanimously resolved to extend support to the genuine demands of MAGEF. These include House Rent Allowance (HRA), Tough Location Allowance (TLA), Travel Allowance (TA), Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief for retirees, and other admissible benefits at par with central government employees as recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).

Riba, in a statement, also highlighted that the house agreed to further strengthen the collective movement of Northeast employees’ federations under the banner of the North East States Government Employees and Teachers’ United Forum (NESGETUF).

The upcoming NESGETUF executive meeting is expected to finalize the next course of action to intensify pressure on both the Centre and state governments regarding longstanding demands. Key issues include the scrapping of the National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), repeal of the PFRDA Act of 2013 and 2015, immediate constitution of the 8th CPC with implementation from January 2026, and regularization of contractual and contingency staff.