GHADC employees’ strike enters 3rd week, Council seeks Rs 252 Cr financial package from Centre

Tura, Sept 3: The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has sought Rs 252 crores from the Centre to tide over its current financial crisis, which includes pending salaries to its employees for 34 months and implementation of a new pay scale in line with the 5th pay commission.

The GHADC employees, led by Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA), have been on strike for over 2 weeks and also staged a sit-in protest to press their demands.

They have also rejected a proposal of the council to clear their 3-months of salaries under the 4th pay commission.

Informing about the steps taken by the Council to address the issue, GHADC’s Executive Member for Forests and Environment, Ashahel D Shira, said the Executive Committee (EC) is in talks with the central government and state government to find a solution to the issue and has already sent formal letters dated March 22, 2024, to the centre seeking financial support to the tune of Rs 252 crores for salary payments for GHADC employees.

The letters with reference numbers GHADC-GAD/DOL/S90/2016/573 and GHADC-GAD/DOL/590/2016/574, have been dispatched to the Secretary of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, by Vijay Kumar D., IAS, Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya.

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One of the major challenges pointed out by Shira was the implementation of the 5th pay commission for council employees since the decision was taken by the previous Executive Committees who had failed to assess the financial capacity of the council before announcing the decision. The assurance to implement the new pay scale under 5th pay commission was apparently promised in 2018.

Nonetheless, since the promise was made, Shira said the current GHADC EC, led by Albinush Marak as the Chief Executive Member, was trying to fulfil the demand.

The current EC has proposed to implement the 5th pay commission by January 2025, which has been turned down by the protesting employees.

Despite the major financial challenges, Shira informed that the current EC has been complying with directives from the High Court of Meghalaya, particularly the order in the WP(C) No. 19 of 2016 case. “We have ensured the consistent payment of salaries to non-gazetted employees, even advancing one month’s salary in good faith, despite financial constraints. Our priority remains to maintain essential public services and minimise disruptions to the citizens of Garo Hills,” he said.

Expressing optimism that the Council will soon be able to resolve the issues of its employees, Shira appealed to the employees to resume their duties in order to clear pending works and avoid any grievances to the people.

Read: CBI chargesheets an IAS officer and two others in a corruption case in Arunachal Pradesh

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