By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 3: The 30 daily wage employees of the Secretariat, who were terminated from their jobs, temporarily suspended their indefinite sit-in protest on Monday.
The employees, who were appointed by the Secretariat Administration Department (Nazarat), had been staging their protest at Malki Ground since Friday. These daily wage workers were assigned to assist Cabinet Ministers, political appointees, and senior government officials at the Secretariat.
It was reported that these employees, many of whom had served for several years, were terminated following the appointment of a new Nazarat officer at the Secretariat.
Their responsibilities included maintaining cleanliness in and around the Secretariat, cleaning the offices of Cabinet Ministers, political appointees, and officials, as well as conference and committee rooms. “We are temporarily suspending our protest due to the ongoing Assembly budget session. However, we will resume our agitation from March 17, once the session concludes,” one of the employees told reporters.
A woman protester expressed her distress, saying it had become extremely difficult to support her family and children after losing her job.
The employees also revealed that they had already met Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and other Cabinet Ministers, appealing for their services to be regularised.
According to them, they were previously assured that their jobs would not be terminated. “We will try to meet the Cabinet Ministers again and appeal for our reinstatement,” they added.