TURA: The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council is once again facing a possible strike by its employees over non-release of their salary for the last 15 months.
The 2,000-odd employees and the Executive Committee (EC) headed by Dipul R Marak are facing a deadlock over the issue.
The GHADC employees have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday unless a positive response is obtained from the council administration.
While the unpaid staff are demanding a written assurance from the EC for the immediate release of at least six months’ salary, the Executive Committee has tried to reason it out with the employees putting before them the current financial shortage facing the oldest autonomous body.
The Executive Committee along with other elected members (MDCs) held a meeting with the officers, head assistants and upper divisional assistants of all the line departments of the GHADC at the CEM’s chamber on Monday.
Chairing the meeting, CEM Dipul R Marak appealed to the officers to ask their staff to call off their proposed strike and said no assurance has come either from the state or the central government for a bailout.
“They (staff) want a written assurance from the EC for immediate release of six months dues but it is impossible because the amount is very high. From where will the council get the funds,” asked Darugre MDC and former chairman Metrinson G Momin while speaking to The Shillong Times.
The A’chik Indigenous Justice Initiative Forum (AIJIF), An organisation from North Garo Hills, has sought the intervention of the Chief Labour Commissioner in New Delhi to solve the issue. The forum recalled the decision taken by the executive committee following a high court order in 2016 to pay in installments of two months’ salary at one go till nine months’ salary pending at the time was cleared. However, it said though a few months’ salary was released at the initial stage, the payment stopped before all nine months’ dues could be cleared.
“This is betrayal by the authorities who had promised to repay salaries in two-month installment basis (as was decided by the court till the dues were cleared). Both parties accepted the decision though only one party is complying with the order. The GHADC authorities should comply with the court order and must give salaries to its employees in time,” the forum said and requested the Chief Labour Commissioner to personally take up the matter with GHADC.
The GHADC needs approximately Rs 4.30 crore each month to clear the salary dues of over 2,000 employees.
Even the non-gazetted employees of GHADC have written to the CEM asking for their salary that is pending for 17 months now. They said in the letter that they were facing problems in running their families and feared that their children, who could not attend schools as they could not pay fees, might be drifted towards insurgency.
The CEM cautioned that a strike at this juncture would impact the revenue collection of the GHADC.
“This is currently the revenue earning season for GHADC because monopoly settlement of arecanut, ginger and cotton is taking place, village markets and bazar haats settlements are being given out and necessary paperwork is being moved for obtaining revenue share from the state government’s Motor Vehicle tax. All these will help the fund position of GHADC especially salary payments during the month of December,” revealed Metrinson Momin.
The sitting MDCs who are not part of the current executive committee of Dipul Marak are slated to meet with the agitating employees on Tuesday morning to clear the air on the financial position of GHADC.
Meanwhile, the GHADC has reportedly received the Letter of Authorization for one crore rupees from the MV tax and is awaiting another amounting to Rs 3 crore.
The Dipul Marak-led EC is optimistic that release of the entire Rs 4 crore MV tax revenue along with settlement of bazaar haats (Rs 2 crore approximately) and Rs 50-60 lakh in settlement of ginger, arecanut and cotton will help substantially in paying of salaries.
