TURA: Taking a defiant stand, the authorities of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) on Thursday welcomed the magisterial inquiry call made by Opposition MLA, PT Sawkmie on the allegation that some of its employees had lost their lives due to the non-payment of salaries.
In a statement issued here, Council CEM, Dipul R Marak said, “I would like to state that the allegations being serious in nature, the demand for magisterial inquiry is welcomed in order to get to the bottom of things and hold the culprits responsible, if the allegations are found to be true”.
Earlier, a body of council employees, the Non-Gazetted Employees’ Association (NGEA), listing as many as 21 deceased employees, had claimed in a statement that the failure of the Council authorities to clear their pending salaries had caused their deaths as they could not bear the costs of necessary treatments. The CEM, while countering the claim, said that the deaths of the named employees were due to different causes like accidents, illnesses, liver cirrhosis and others and not the non-payment of salaries. Marak further claimed that in spite of severe fund crunch, the department has been making salary payments periodically and clearing backlog of gratuity and leave encashment as and when there is collection. “We welcome the demand for a magisterial inquiry. But if the allegations are found to be untrue, action needs to be taken against such employees who are spreading misinformation and making baseless allegations,” Marak said.