PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Members of the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan Karmchari Adhikari Sanyukt Morcha, which represents the employees of Jal Sansthan, began an indefinite sit-in on Monday, demanding their long-standing demands be addressed at the earliest. They demonstrated at the UJS headquarters in Dehradun. Prominent among those who staged the sit-in was the advisor of the agitating outfit Jaipal Singh Chauhan.
Notably, they had recently staged a protest at the UJS headquarters, calling for the department to be designated as a government body (Rajkiyakaran). They are also opposing the authorities’ decision to transfer revenue collection responsibilities earlier assigned to them to Peyjal Nigam. During the earlier protest, they had emphasised that Jal Sansthan used to manage maintenance and revenue collection, while Peyjal Nigam was responsible for construction work only. However, the situation has changed, with Peyjal Nigam now tasked with revenue collection. They said that this shift is adversely affecting Jal Sansthan employees, whose salaries that depend on revenue collection have become uncertain. They demand rollback of the just-introduced system and restoration of the earlier one.
As there has been no action taken on their demands, they commenced the indefinite stir on Monday.
At the start of the demonstration, chief advisor Gajendra Kumar Kapil urged all officers and workers to unite in this struggle for the benefit of the department, stressing that the future of everyone involved is at stake. He warned that if Jal Sansthan’s financial situation continued to decline, it could mirror that of Peyjal Nigam, where salaries have gone unpaid for three months.
Echoing the same view, the co-convenor, Bhupendra Singh Chauhan highlighted the need to send forth a united message from all concerned both to the department and the government.
The chief coordinator of the agitating union, Nandlal Joshi outlined their primary demands, which include making UJS a government body and reinstating revenue collection responsibilities to UJS. “We must make the government comply with this demand and we are ready to go to any length,” he added.
On the first day, the employees from the Dehradun division took part in the sit-in stir. Joshi indicated that this protest will continue until their demands are met. He added that on the second day, participants from the Kotdwar district would join, with personnel from other districts expected to join in on subsequent days.
Joshi also warned that if the State government does not take action on their demands soon, they would escalate their protest by conducting a “Gherao” at the chief minister’s residence, the Secretariat and the Vidhan Sabha.
