More than a hundred conservancy workers employed by Madurai Corporation staged a demonstration inside Madurai Collectorate premises on Monday alleging irregularities in the regular disbursal of salaries.
The workers, supported by the labour association affiliated to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), said that their salaries were seldom paid in the first week of every month.
A woman worker, who did not want to be named, said that she had not received her salary for the past 50 days.
“We end up depending on usurers in the absence of regular salaries,” she alleged.
A. Bose, a functionary of the association, said salaries were paid mostly after the third week of every month.
“For those workers involved in dengue prevention, the salaries are still paid in cash instead of bank transfer, which is leading to a lot of irregularities and delay,” he alleged.
The workers also alleged that the contractors through whom they are engaged had not paid arrears they were eligible to after revision of their salaries recently.
“We have raised this issue with the Corporation authorities several times, but nothing has been done,” Mr. Bose said. Pointing that contractors were deducting money from the salaries of the workers for Employees’ State Insurance and Provident Fund, the workers said that there was no transparency in the process. “We do not know whether the deducted amount is properly credited to our PF accounts,” a worker said.
Claiming that a judgement by Madurai Bench of Madras High Court made nearly four years ago that asked Madurai Corporation to regularise the employment of all conservancy workers, the workers appealed for Collector’s intervention in implementing the judgement.
