TURA, Feb 24: After close to a week of protests by the non-gazetted employees who have so far refused to attend to their duties, the Administrator to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has finally cracked the whip coming down hard on those refusing to join work.
Administrator, Dr D Vijay Kumar has issued an office order calling for all employees to return to work by Thursday morning while those refusing to do so have been advised to avail a one-time settlement and discontinue their service.
“This office is reeling under a financial crunch and it is incumbent on all employees to ensure smooth collection of revenue so that the collection can be utilized for salary payment. Non attendance by employees is only hampering smooth collection of revenue. Those not interested in attending office are advised to avail one-time settlement and discontinue their service,” stated the order.
At the same time, the Administrator has given clearance for release of one month salary of September 2018 under the pre-revised scale for all employees. However, there is a caveat. All heads of departments in the district council have been directed to prepare bills only for those employees who will attend office with effect from February 25.
Earlier, in December salaries for two months were disbursed to the employees but a major goof up in the financial tabulation resulted in a cash shortfall resulting in many employees failing to get paid.
Since then, the agitating employees have been demanding that the government release dues to the GHADC amounting to Rs 55 crore to clear salaries and have been continuing on a strike.