TURA, Dec 17: The administrator of the GHADC has informed that its employees will be paid before Christmas their pending salaries for two months from the available funds, but categorically declined to divert central funds to the tune of Rs 18 crore for clearing the salary. Such diversion cannot happen since fund is meant for developmental schemes only. He also cleared the air about claims of the central funds having been released as untrue.
“Two months dues of July and August 2018 will be given as per the old pay scales,” revealed GHADC Administrator and Garo Hills Commissioner of Divisions, Vijay Kumar D, when contacted by The Shillong Times on Thursday evening.
The GHADC employees have not been paid for 29 long months and the last salary disbursement that took place was two months ago when the dues of June 2018 were paid to them. The employees have been on a strike since Monday, this week, demanding release of the central scheme allotment of Rs 18 crore to clear all their dues. They have also sought the removal of the state government
appointed civil service officer Rikse R Marak as the council Secretary.
Putting paid to the expectations of the several hundred employees who had been banking on the central assistance, Kumar clarified saying, “That is meant for taking up development schemes, not for salaries. Anyway, that money has not yet been released to the GHADC.”
On Wednesday, two days after giving a 48-hour deadline for release of their dues and removal of the council Secretary, the agitating employees surrounded the GHADC office premises staging a protest sit-in carrying banners.
“We want nothing short of three months dues on the lines of the revised pay scale for all employees and removal of the Secretary. If they fail to heed to our demands we shall continue the strike even into January,” warned the GHADC Non-Gazetted Employees’ Association Secretary Brithen M Sangma.
The protestors carried posters calling for the ouster of the council secretary and also questioned the move to provide a whooping Rs 18 crore for developmental works when the term of the current members had already been completed in October.
“Where are the MDCs when the term has already ended and administrative rule has taken over?” several posters questioned.
“What will we tell our children when we return empty handed during this season of Christmas?” asked many disappointed employees who attended the strike. Several employees have come forward to tell their tale of woes and how many of their children lost out on education due to paucity of funds in clearing fees.
The recent statement of District Council Affairs Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, this week in which he categorically washed the government hands off the GHADC affairs has led to widespread criticism from the protesting employees. Rymbui had stated that the GHADC was an autonomous body and the government was not responsible for payment of the employees’ salaries.
The employees’ association NGEA has reacted to the statement and asked why the state government was withholding release of royalty share from major and minor minerals belonging to the GHADC if it wanted the council to operate independently.
