TURA, Sep 20: After some days of calm, the agitation season has returned to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), as the Council employees under the aegis of Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) have once again started their protest strike from Monday demanding they be paid their salaries in the revised scale of 5th Pay Commission even as they called for revoking of the termination and suspension of their organisation leaders.
Employees from the GHADC refused to join work on Monday and instead sat in protest outside the Council premises the entire day.
The GHADC is shortly due to release four months of the employees’ pending salaries from money received from the state government through royalty for transport and forests.
A total sum of Rs 20 crore is being released to the GHADC by the Meghalaya government.
The GHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM) Benedic R Marak along with Deputy CEM Nikman Ch Marak and Chairman Rakesh A Sangma had met Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in Shillong, last week, where it was announced that the Council’s share will be released by the state to help tide over the financial situation and pay some of the monthly dues meant for the employees.
The GHADC needs a whooping Rs 4 crore each month to pay its several hundred employees.
“The demand for revised pay will raise the financial requirement from Rs 4 to Rs 6 crore which is simply not possible in this current financial situation. We want to provide our employees with the best pay package but for that to happen, we need to first strengthen our financial position. Steps are already being taken on this front, but all these will take some time,” says Deputy CEM Nikman Ch Marak.
He mentioned that the pay package will come along with the annual increments for the staff which will push the financial requirements further in the GHADC, which is why a comprehensive study is being done on the tax and revenue generation aspects.
The CEM, who is currently away in Shillong on account of the assembly session, is expected to be back in town by Tuesday. According to Deputy CEM Nikman Marak, the Letter of Account (LoA) for payment of the four months’ salary is also being brought by the CEM.
With regard to the demand for reinstatement of the NGEA leaders and revoking the termination order to their president Senora Johny Arengh, the Executive Committee of the Council has clarified that a committee set up to look into the matter is the right authority to deal with it.
