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           | Patna, Feb 7 : A month after over 300,000 of its employees   went on strike, the Bihar government has decided to dismiss them, officials said   Saturday. The government would begin to serve dismissal notices to   striking employees Saturday, said Amir Subhani, secretary, Personnel and   Administrative Reforms department. The notices would be sent to the employees'   homes. 
 According to official sources, a decision to serve dismissal   notices, under section 8(2) of the Bihar Government Servant Conduct Rules, 1976,   was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary R.J.M. Pillai.
 
 "Some top officials were busy till late Friday night preparing the final   list of employees to be served notices," the sources said.
 
 The move comes   a day after the government told the Patna High Court that it would not hold   negotiations with the associations of the striking employees until the   month-long stir was withdrawn.
 
 The employees went on an indefinite   strike Jan 7 demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay   Commission in "letter and spirit" after failure of talks with Deputy Chief   Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio.
 
 The   government issued the striking employees show-cause notices Jan 22, a day after   the deadline to resume work lapsed, warning them of action including denial of   salary and suspension from work. However, the striking employees did not return   to work as their demands were not accepted by the government.
 
 Modi, who   refused to accept the employees' demands because of a funds crunch, had earlier   ruled out any possibility of the government negotiating with the striking   employees.
 
 The strike has affected the functioning of the government   departments and health services across the state. Most of the government   offices, particularly the treasury and registration departments, wear a deserted   look.
 
 However, the leaders of the striking employees said that strike   will continue despite the threats to dismiss them.
 
 Earlier, the striking   employees ignored the state government's "no work, no pay" warning. "We will not   end our strike unless our demands are accepted by the government," said Manjul   Kumar Das, general secretary of the Bihar State Non-Gazetted Employees   Federation (BSNGEF).
   
      
     (IANS)
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