PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Citing no concrete action on their demands, members of the Karmchari Adhikari Sanyukt Morcha have decided to launch an indefinite protest from July 6 at the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS) headquarters.
Pertinently, opposing the authorities’ decision to hand over revenue collection responsibility to Peyjal Nigam, members of the Karmchari Adhikari Sanyukt Morcha staged a protest at the UJS headquarters on Thursday. They claimed that employees’ salaries are funded from revenue collections. The protesters demanded that either the work be restored to Jal Sansthan or they should be made a government body, so that the government bears responsibility for salary payments.
Sharing further details on the protest status, Morcha chief convenor Nand Lal Joshi said that on Thursday they organised a one-day protest at the Jal Sansthan headquarters. The protest was held due to unfulfilled demands, including that earlier Jal Sansthan handled maintenance and revenue collection, while Peyjal Nigam was responsible for construction work. Over time, the situation changed and Peyjal Nigam was assigned revenue collection work. He added that new water supply schemes have been allotted to Peyjal Nigam and it has also been asked to collect revenue from them. When Peyjal Nigam undertakes any work then it also receives its revenue. This is impacting Jal Sansthan revenue due to which the employees are not getting salaries. Apart from this, the Jal Sansthan used to get 12 per cent supervision charges for the works done by it but now this benefit too is getting received by the Peyjal Nigam,’’ he said.
Joshi said the protesters demanded that either the work be returned to Jal Sansthan or it be made a government body, so that the government can be responsible for paying salaries.
He said that on Thursday, they met the chief general manager of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan who assured them regarding this. He said that however no step regarding this has been seen as they have been raising their demands for a long time. Considering all this, they have decided to conduct the indefinite protest at the Jal Sansthan headquarters from July 6, where employees of Jal Sansthan across the State will be present, he said.
