Ten employee unions walked into Mukhya Sevak Sadan at the Chief Minister's Camp Office in Dehradun on Tuesday and walked out with a promise: every demand would be reviewed by the book. The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand confirmed that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami received delegations from across the state's workforce — teachers, engineers, health workers, university staff, and excise inspectors — and directed senior officials to act on their grievances without delay.

What the Unions Brought to the Table

The demands were specific and long-standing. The Shiksha Adhikari Prashasnik Samvarg Association, led by newly elected office-bearers under Govind Ram Jaiswal, pressed for departmental promotions to fill vacant posts of Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, and Block Education Officers — and sought automatic regularisation of employees once their probation period ends.

The Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers Sangh, Jal Sansthan placed a sharper demand before the CM: full rajkiyakaran (government departmentalisation) of the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, a demand the water body's employees have raised periodically since the state's formation in 2000.

The Uttarakhand Vishwavidyalaya Karmachari Mahasangh sought filling of non-teaching vacancies across state universities, restructuring of non-teaching posts at Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, and pay parity for laboratory assistants at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology with their counterparts at other state universities.

Teachers Push for Old Pension and TET Relief

The Uttarakhand Junior High School Teachers' Association brought two pointed demands. Teachers appointed on posts advertised before 25 October 2005 want inclusion under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) — a demand that echoes a nationwide movement against the National Pension System introduced post-2004. Teachers appointed before 2010 also sought relaxation from the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

Beyond these, delegations from the National Health Mission Employees Organisation, the Uttarakhand ANM Samvarg Sangathan, the Lab Technician Organisation, the Rajya Nigam Karmachari Adhikari Mahasangh, the Madhyamik Atithi Shikshak Sangh, the Part-Time Teachers' Association, and the Uttarakhand Rajya Aabkari Nirikshak Sangh each placed their cadre-specific concerns before the CM.

Dhami's Directive to Principal Secretary Sudhanshu

CM Dhami directed Principal Secretary R.K. Sudhanshu to route every demand through the relevant departments for rule-based examination and to ensure 'necessary action towards resolution.' Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, Secretary Dilip Jawlkar, Garhwal Commissioner Anand Swaroop, IG Garhwal Rajeev Swaroop, and Additional Secretary J.C. Kandpal were present at the meeting.

The pattern is familiar in Indian state governance — multi-union audiences that channel grievances into departmental review pipelines rather than immediate policy shifts. What matters now is whether Principal Secretary Sudhanshu's office converts those review instructions into cabinet or finance department notes with timelines. The unions will be watching.