A section of employees from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board took part in a State-wide agitation against their administration and the Tamil Nadu government outside their office premises for not ensuring proper salary disbursal to contract employees here on Tuesday.
State Treasurer, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, V. Alagumalai, said that senior officials of the TWAD Board were flouting the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act for many years and had never given minimum wage set by each district administration. “The Collector has declared that labourers should be paid ₹13,500 but workers receive between ₹4,000 and ₹8,000,” he said.
Workers who were usually work as maintenance assistants, fitters, electricians and pump operators even did not have identity cards, Mr. Alagumani said. “They also do not receive the ESI and PF amounts.” Contract employees must be treated on a par with permanent employees as they were the backbone of the organisation, he added.
