TURA, Dec 21: As the entire state is in the run-up to Christmas celebration when families come together and working members expect their hard earned dues, allegations of a deliberate attempt by a handful of agitating staffers at sabotaging the release of two months’ salaries for hundreds of employees of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), who have not been paid for over two years, has compelled the GHADC Secretary to issue show-cause notice on Monday against six members of the Accounts department, who failed to report for duty to clear individual ledgers of the workers to avail their dues.
The GHADC Secretary, Rikse R Marak, has issued a show-cause notice to six staffers of the accounts section who, despite being allegedly present in the morning at the Council premises, disappeared after a meeting of the agitating Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) that refused to accept the two months’ salary dues being released to them ahead of Christmas.
“In my meeting with them on Monday, I had requested the striking employees to take the two-month dues because we have been trying our best to mobilise resources and this is a time of Christmas when families need it to meet expenses. The records will show in the next few days that almost all the employees of GHADC have agreed to accept the two months’ dues being provided to them,” dared GHADC Secretary Rikse Marak.
The tussle for supremacy between the agitating members of the GHADC and the government-appointed Secretary continues unabated after the protesting NGEA held a meeting outside the Council office on Monday and decided to ‘reject’ the two-month salary package being given by the council administration.
The protesting employees are demanding nothing short of three months’ dues with a revised pay scale – something the council administration has refused to comply on the grounds of an acute financial crisis.
Despite the stand of the striking NGEA, reports have now come to the fore that hundreds of workers of the GHADC have already decided to avail the two months’ salary being released to them.
There are a little over 1,600 people employed in the GHADC.
The show-cause notice issued relates to the violation of the district administration permission and the alleged ‘deliberate’ hampering of office work to clear the paperwork for release of salaries.
While the West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh, had given permission solely for a meeting of the NGEA on December 14, the striking association had gone ahead with an office picketing for three consecutive days hampering work.
Coupled with the picketing was the refusal to work by the very people tasked with clearing the personal ledger accounts (PLA) of the several hundred workers. “Your absence from duty on 21-12-2020 has hampered work and halted the process of disbursal of salaries to the employees, who want to avail two months of salary for July and August, 2018,”mentioned the show-cause order against six staffers, who now face charges of insubordination, negligence of duty and unauthorised absence.
The accounts section members of the Finance department, who now face stern action for their ‘deliberate’ disappearance from duty, have been named as Cashiers Jullendro A Sangma, Hunterson P Sangma, Balin M Sangma (assistant cashier), Rengmin S Sangma (LDA), Sthin A Sangma (cash assistant), and Saljrang R Marak (office peon).
Hundreds of employees, who belong to the departments of Land and Revenue, Judiciary, Printing, Transport, Taxation, Rural Administration, Water Works, Civil works, Administration, Bhakijai, Relief and Rehabilitation, have not been paid since June 2018.
The current administration of the GHADC has mobilised resources to clear dues for the months of July and August 2018, which has been strongly opposed by the agitating protestors, who want their dues under a new raised scale. They are seeking nothing less than three months’ dues.