Tura, July 28: Hundreds of employees from the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council have decided to launch a second round of protest over pending salaries by going on a strike outside the council office from the 29th of July to 1st of August.
The decision was taken by the employees union of the council- Non-Gazetted Employees Association after the governing Executive committee headed by Chief Executive Member Albinush Marak failed to provide any positive response to the employees demands for release of their long pending monthly dues.
The employees who have pending salaries for 42 long months are demanding that the council authorities release 12 months of their dues but the authorities have been citing financial crunch as the core reason behind its inability to give in to their demands.
The employees had been on a similar protest for 13 working days in July to pressure the authorities to clear some of their dues, impacting the functioning of the council particularly revenue generation from land holding tax and trading licenses.
“We regret to state that no response, assurance, or dialogue was initiated by the EC which only adds to the prevailing sense of abandonment among the employees,” stated the NGEA president Brithen Sangma.
The union has warned that it will bar officers and staff of the judicial department in the council from attending to their duties during the four day protest that begins tomorrow.
“We are taking this step as a last resort due to the persistent neglect and lack of accountability shown by the Executive Committee,” stated the NGEA leader.
