TURA: Employees of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council have filed a contempt petition in the Meghalaya High Court over the failure of the authorities to release their salaries for the past 13 months.
The High Court, while accepting the contempt petition, has listed the matter for hearing after two weeks.
Representing the aggrieved employees, lawyer Asish Barua filed the contempt petition over non-clearance of salaries of hundreds of employees of the district council since the High Court had given a ruling last year directing the GHADC executive committee to ensure clearance of all pending dues of the employees within a timeframe.
The court directed the council authorities to complete instructions mentioning that the matter would be listed after two weeks.
While the GHADC initially cleared some months of pending dues of the employees, it failed to cover the gap resulting in more months of pending arrears accumulating.
At present, the employees are working on their 13th month without getting paid.
Meanwhile, some council officials point out that the problem of funds lies more with the state government than the district council.
Crores of rupees meant to be paid as royalty to the GHADC are allegedly lying with the state government and not getting released.
The contempt petition filed by the employees allegedly states that employees’ dues are being withheld but some legal experts say that the matter is complex because the GHADC authorities are handicapped for lack of funds in their possession.
“It is not just the staff but also the chief executive member, executive members, senior officials and others who have not been paid due to lack of funds,” said a lawyer on the case.
The GHADC has been plagued with funds crunch for the past couple of years and hinges on the state and central governments to regularly bail them out.
Last year, the central government released a one-time special assistance fund of Rs 100 crore for development work under the GHADC.
