Unpaid salaries: 23 months and counting
TURA: Having endured immense financial suffering for close to two years due to non-payment of their monthly salaries, employees of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) have decided to launch an indefinite strike, beginning November 12, unless the authorities clear their dues.
The non-gazetted employees held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the problem during which several members aired their grievances and the hardships faced all these months as families begged and borrowed to make two ends meet.
During the meeting, council employees unanimously endorsed the decision to go on a protest strike and demanded that authorities clear their pending dues before Christmas. It was also decided that the strike would not be called off until and unless a concrete assurance is received from the GHADC authorities.
The backlog in payment of monthly salaries of the employees has been rising steadily since the past two years primarily due to delay in accumulation of funds and resources by the oldest autonomous body in the Garo Hills.
To make matters worse, allegations have been leveled against the GHADC authorities about bypassing the interest of its employees and giving precedence to clearance of contractors’ bills each time funds are obtained by the district council.
One of the main causes pushing the district council into this state of affairs is alleged to be the innumerable illegal appointments that plagued successive executive committees (ECs).
Many elected members (MDCs) are said to have pushed in their own people for recruitment into the council thereby raising the number of employees to a staggering high. When last counted, the number of GHADC employees had allegedly crossed 1500, by far the highest amongst the three autonomous district councils in the state. Several dozen of these recruited members are alleged to have come through the back door without facing any examination and the interview board.
These MDCs who illegally pushed in their own people for appointment stand accused of bringing the district council to the debilitating condition it is now in.