Casual workers of the Archaeological Survey of India have urged the Director-General of ASI to ensure they get fixed pay regularly. The workers alleged that the outsourcing agency, through which they have been recruited, was paying them less than the fixed amount.
ASI Non-Permanent Workers Union has written to the DG of ASI in this regard. Union president Dharmesh and secretary Nagaraju said, in response to their petition the Karnataka High Court ordered the ASI to pay salary to the casual workers directly, without the intervention of a private agency. However, the ASI floated a tender for the agency, through which the payments were being made.
“The outsourcing agency is not paying the salary as per the tender agreement. In place of over ₹11,000 per month, the workers were getting between ₹6,000 and ₹ 8,500. Surprisingly, there had been a disparity in paying salary among the workers spread over different sub-circles in the State”, Mr. Nagaraj said.
The office-bearers of the union said they already brought this issue to the notice of senior officers of the department, but they did not take any action. In some places, they said, the salaries were delayed. Many workers had not got their salary for a couple of months, they added.
