Department reinstates all workers after outrage
From Our Correspondent
RESUBELPARA, April 20: A senior leader of the NPP-led MDA 2.0 Government is staring at potential embarrassment after a written directive from the politician led to the abrupt termination of 17 muster roll workers in the PHE Department, only for them to be reinstated later.
The senior leader was inducted as a minister during the cabinet reshuffle in September last year.
The incident took place recently in the Mendipathar PHE sub-division of North Garo Hills and triggered widespread anger among workers, who viewed it as political interference and overreach.
Aggrieved muster roll workers subsequently filed an RTI application seeking details of the developments and information on alleged out-of-turn promotions. The matter was brought to the attention of social activist Nilbath Ch Marak, who has demanded an inquiry to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.
Background
Muster roll workers in the department are classified into three categories — semi-skilled, skilled, and highly skilled — each with different levels of fixed monthly emoluments. The difference in pay between the semi-skilled and highly skilled categories is around Rs 8,000 per month.
To qualify for the highly skilled category, workers must serve in the department and demonstrate competence. Promotions to higher categories are generally based on seniority and performance.
What triggered the controversy?
According to sources within the department, senior muster roll workers aged between 55 and 60 were suddenly named in the minister’s directive to the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Mendipathar, ordering their termination. The move was reportedly aimed at creating vacancies for new recruits, possibly from the politician’s constituency.
“I spoke to some of these workers who informed me that such termination is not only illegal but did not follow due process. Of the 17 workers, none of them had a bad history or instances of negligence. They were seniors in the role and action to remove them was arbitrary,” informed Nilbath.
Following the terminations, protests erupted within the department. A meeting was later held involving the SDO, the affected muster roll workers, and a recently retired government employee to seek clarification.
“When they met the officers, they claimed that the termination was within the department’s rights as those terminated were nearing the retirement age of 58. They even showed the government notification for retiring employees. Unfortunately they were ill informed as a recent notification by the state government has raised the retirement age for muster roll workers to 65. When this was pointed out to them, they had no answers,” added Nilbath.
The department later reversed its decision and reinstated the terminated workers. However, the issue remains far from resolved, as the workers fear they could be targeted again.
“We now want to know as to who was benefiting from our losses and that is why the RTI. We are sure that we will clear the entire matter of illegality when the answers are provided,” said a worker on condition of anonymity.
This is not the only grievance within the department.
“What I have been informed about is that recently employees have been recruited into the department without any prior knowledge of PHE works. What is even more surprising is that those that have been recruited have been categorised into the highly skilled strata – something that was earlier earned through merit and seniority,” added Nilbath.
“What is also very surprising is that the maid, driver and other house workers of one of the employees were recruited into these highly skilled roles. This is a completely immoral, illegal and downright show of power. As to how they were thrust into these roles is a question that the department needs to answer soon or we will be taking this to its rightful place – the Meghalaya High Court,” asserted Nilbath.
Attempts to contact the PHE Department for a comment remained unsuccessful till the filing of this report.
