Meghalaya: GHADC Non-Gazetted employees write to Guv over pending salaries

TURA: The Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) wrote to the Governor Satya Pal Malik on December 10 stating that they have not received salaries from the council.

In a letter to the Governor, the NGEA said, it came to know from reliable sources that the centre is due to provide ₹ 18 crores to GHADC solely for clearing the salaries of the employees.

“We request you kindly issue directions to the administrator, Vijay Kumar, and the secretary, Rikse Marak, to use the money only for the payment of salaries on a revised scale. Earlier a section of the employees have refused to accept salaries in the old scale and hence we request you to take up the matter with the administrator on this as well,” said the letter by the NGEA.

The NGEA alleged that the outgoing MDCs had been trying to get their bills cleared in the names of various contractors and were approaching the GHADC authorities on the matter.

“Our salaries are pending for the last 3 years and the outgoing MDCs have been putting pressure on the accounts department to release the ₹ 18 crores as contract payment in the names of various contractors that are related to them,” they added.

In another letter, the NGEA sought the Governor’s intervention, alleging that the secretary (Rikse) lured two employees of GHADC to quit their jobs in order to get their pending salaries, mentioning a severance package from the GHADC.

The NGEA added that another lady from the GHADC received a similar treatment from the secretary and resigned, hoping that her dues will be cleared along with severance package.

“The action of the secretary is not only unacceptable but also illegal. She gave false hope to them and got them relieved from their job. We request you to kindly look into the matter and address the grievances of the people who resigned on this context,” said the NGEA members.

(Edited by Gabriel G Momin)