KATHMANDU: The talks held between the government and the agitating civil servants ended inconclusively Friday. The two parties have agreed to sit for another round at 2 pm tomorrow after necessary groundwork.

“The government will work out the increment while the unions will suggest ways for adjusting the levels of the government employees by tomorrow,” said Finance Minister Surendra Pandey. Stating that the agitating unions had shown flexibility in their demands, he hoped the talks would reach a conclusion tomorrow.

Six civil servants’ unions have been agitating with their demand of making reasonable increment in their pays. The unions, however, do not have uniformity of demand. The meeting held among the six unions prior to their talks with the government had failed to forge consensus on the demand.

“UCPN-Maoist-affiliated union wants a minimum increment of Rs 5,000 for employees of all levels. Others, including the Nepali Congress-affiliated union, have demanded salaries for various levels of employees ranging from Rs 10,500 to 55,000,” said Subodh Kumar Devkota, general secretary, Nepal Civil Service Workers’ Union.

“The government is ready to turn the 10 to 12 per cent increase in the allowances as announced in the budget to the salary. However, we did not agree on that,” said Krishna Prasad Bhandari, chairperson, Rastriya Swatantra Karmachari Milan Kendra.

Minister for General Administration Rabindra Shrestha; Minister for Irrigation Balkrishna Khand; Minister for Law and Justice Prem Bahadur Singh and Minister for Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Dr Minendra Rijal attended the meeting.