Unpaid MI staff line up stirs
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 30 2013:
In trying to implement development works non-regular staff members of Minor Irrigation Department have been left in the lurch without salaries for nearly 20 months , claimed All Manipur Minor Irrigation Employees' Association general secretary H Baleshwor.
Peeved over the alleged indifferent attitude of the Department authorities work-charge, muster-roll and casual staff of the Department had resorted to office gate lock-out protests, said the general secretary who also told media persons today that more intense agitation would be launched in case the pending salaries are not cleared at the earliest.
It is said for the 2012-13 period work-charge and muster-roll staff were not paid salaries for eight months while the salary denial is in the 12th month for the 2013-14 fiscal.
Initial elation that the pending entitlements would be cleared upon completion of sectoral budgetary allocation process went abegging as a meagre Rs 3.70 lakh provision for the 2013-14 fiscal was exhausted in clearing two months' salary and some arrear amount, Baleshwor confided and stated that MI Department has 262 regular staff, 310 in enlisted as work-charge workers and 19 muster rolls.
While there is cloud over how the Department's total employees strength could be maintained for about 70 percent of the regular staff would be reaching service superannuation by 2014 the non-regular staff members are even more concerned as an order issued on November 30, 2009 by the Chief Secretary (Manipur) for paying salaries to work-charge and muster-roll employees within the first week every month remains un-implemented till date, he expressed.
While regretting that the Department authorities could not comply with the said order and non-regular employees remain unpaid for over a year, Baleshwor informed that a memorandum containing three demands was submitted to the Chief Minister, Parliamentary Secretary concerned and other officials to address plight of the employees.
The three demands cover appeal for clearance of pending salaries entitled to work-charge and muster roll employees, service regularisation of these employees, implement labour laws along with provision for statutory and social benefits.
Asserting that intense agitation would be launched in case the said demands fail to evoke positive response at the earliest, the secretary said sit-in-protests would be staged from June 10 to 15, followed by office gherao from june 17 till 19 .
if these agitations too fail to convince the Department authorities then the employees would resort to relay hunger strike from june 20 onwards followed by indefinite hunger strike, he said.
When contacted, Chief Engineer (MI) M Shyambabu clarified that regularisation of employees is the prerogative of the Government as the department's power is limited to implementing directive/policy of the Government.
He also informed that from about Rs 35.62 lakhs needed to pay work charge employees the total salary figure has escalated to about Rs 64 lakhs consequent to revision of pay.
Shyambabu also opined that inability of the Government to provide sufficient sectoral budgetary allocation to the MI Department might be due to financial constraints .
Comment
