SHILLONG: The Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) will not shut down its office in the state after its management assured employees here that they would be provided accommodation.
The contract for the building that houses the UCIL office at Lower New Colony in Laitumkhrah expired in May and a three-month extension was given.
While six staff and a senior official are posted in UCIL office, Shillong, four are in Wahkaji.
Dr C Sreedhar Babu, additional superintendent (Geology) uranium project, said if the owner wants to renovate the building, “we have to vacate it but the staff will continue to function”.
“I got an e-mail from the management (UCIL) that we will be provided office space at Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) (Nongmynsong) and accommodation for family in quarters at AMD. So this office will continue further,” Babu told reporters.
However, Babu said there was no official written assurance from the management regarding the fate of contractual employees.
“More or less 10-15 years they have been working as normal contractual employees.”
CSR assistant Johnteibor Lyngdoh Sangriang expressed dissatisfaction over not getting a clear assurance from the UCIL management and decided to stop shifting of office materials from Shillong to the office in Jadugoda, Jharkhand.
Babu said the plan was to shift only excess furniture and an additional vehicle.
“We the staff will not be satisfied unless we see the AMD office space. The office space is small, where will the staff work? It will be difficult,” Sangriang said.
He also raised concern over the alleged attempts of UCIL to downsize the staff. “We have worked for more than 10 years, it will be difficult for us to get employment in other areas.”
To a query he said the reason for shifting the office was due to security reasons following violent incidents to resist uranium mining in the state that prompted AMD to withdraw its research operations from Meghalaya.
