MeECL extends jugali merit list validity, strike called off

SHILLONG: The protesting jugalis (linesmen) on Wednesday decided to suspend their indefinite strike after Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) revalidated the merit list for another six months till January 31, 2018.
The protesters have been asking MeECL to issue appointment letters to 466 qualified linesmen as the merit list would lapse on August 2.
However, the jugalis said they will stage a two-day protest every month outside the MeECL gate to remind the corporation to issue appointment letters within three months.
Thomas Passah, state youth wing president of KHNAM that is supporting the jugalis, said the protest will be intensified if the three-month deadline is not met. “If MeECL is using the extension of the merit list as a ploy to keep us quiet then, we might even consider staging an indefinite hunger strike, in which family members of the jugalis will also participate,” he said. While urging the MLAs to raise their voice on the issue in the Assembly, Passah said the cease-work protest by the jugalis affected many villages as they do not have electricity for the past two days.
Meanwhile, they have also submitted a writ petition in the Meghalaya High Court on the delay of MeECL in issuing appointment letters to the jugalis.