Jalpaiguri, Sept. 21 -- Jalpaiguri Municipality's sanitation workers launched another protest on Monday demanding payment of pending salaries, locking the civic body's main gate and disrupting services. They also dumped garbage from municipal waste vehicles on the road outside the municipality.
The workers had staged a similar protest a few days ago over unpaid salaries. Following the agitation, one month's salary was paid, but they alleged that their current month's salary was still pending. They also claimed that no assurance had been given regarding their Puja bonus.
"There has been no clear assurance about when we will receive our salary for the current month. We have also been told that we will not receive any bonus," said worker Kalyani Raut.
Manish Raut, secretary of the sanitation workers' union, said, "There is currently no political board or administrator at Jalpaiguri Municipality. Although the civic body is being run through its officials, there has been no discussion with the sanitation workers' union regarding salaries or other problems. We have repeatedly informed the authorities, but as no solution was found, we were forced to stop all work from today."
The protest left residents seeking municipal services disappointed.
Executive Officer Debdulal Patra said the salary issue had been brought to the Urban Development Department's notice. The protest, which began at 9 am, was withdrawn at 5 pm after officials assured workers that efforts were being made to resolve the issue. However, civic services remained severely affected throughout the day.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.