A contract worker for the Kurnool Municipal Corporation (KMC) alleged that the corporation has not paid him his salary for the past 22 months, and threatened to immolate himself along with his family if his dues were not cleared at the earliest.
Addakula Salraju, who claims to be working for KMC for 19 years now, released a video on social media elaborating his plight. The video was shared widely on social media.
In the video, he warned the corporation that he would set himself and his family ablaze if the KMC does not clear his dues by Sankranti. “Taking care of my family has become tough. Children are no longer going to school and there is no food to eat,” Mr. Salraju said.
According to Mr. Salraju, he is yet to get 22 months of salary and his name was not included in the Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS).
KMC Municipal Commissioner S. Ravindra Babu told The Hindu that he was aware of the issue. “The Collector has also given us orders to act on the matter swiftly. We are processing his file,” he said.
The commissioner, however, claimed that only 10 months of salary is due to Mr. Salraju, and not 22 months as claimed by him.
According to KMC officials, previous commissioners had not given a work order to over 50 outsourcing employees who were engaged in various works. However, they continued to work with the KMC as the previous two commissioners had permitted it.
Mr. Ravindra Babu claimed that almost all of the 50-odd files have been processed, and only two are yet to be done. “We will process those files too within the next 10 days,” he said, and added that show-cause notices have also been issued to officials concerned within the KMC.
MLA calls up worker
The video came to the notice of Kurnool City MLA Hafeez Khan, who later contacted Mr. Salraju and spoke to him about the issue. The MLA also wrote to Mr. Ravindra Babu on the matter, urging him to take immediate action to prevent any untoward incident.
