484 employees deprived of 2 months' salary;

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The administration of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) issued a notice to the Maharashtra Agency Security and Labour Supplier for its failure to pay two months' salary to 484 employees.

The contractor also has not released Rs 75 lakh of Provident Fund and GST. The administration served a legal notice to the contractor for not paying the salaries of 484 employees for two months. The university also threatened to take legal action within seven days.

According to details, the University awarded a contract to Maharana Labour and Security Agency to provide daily wage employees on October 25, 2024. An agreement was signed to provide a total of 484 contractual employees, both skilled and unskilled, to the university.

It is mandatory for the contractor to deposit the salary of the employees in their bank accounts on the 7th of every month and then submit the bill to the university. It is also compulsory to pay the employees' Provident Fund (PF) and GST in the same month. However, this contractor has repeatedly violated the terms and conditions of the contract and the university administration has sent letters ten times. This contractor has deposited only fifty per cent of the PF for the first month. The GST amount of Rs 30 lakhs for four months has also been pending.

Also, the salaries of 484 daily wage employees for the months of March and April of the current year were also delayed.

The university administration has instructed to pay the salaries for festivals and celebrations like Gudi Padwa, Ramzan Eid and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti. Also, the employees have repeatedly requested the agency.

Employees are also being told to open an account in a private bank instead of a nationalised bank. Not a single month's payment slip has been given to the employees so far. Professional tax had not been paid for five months. The employees have complained that this agency is doing illegal transactions.

The said contract is for three years. The employees are working at the main campus, Dharashiv sub-campus and Model College (Ghansawangi). In this regard, on the orders of Registrar Dr Prashant Amritkar, the university administration issued a legal notice through adv Nitin Kamble. The contractor was warned of legal action if the salary was not released within seven days.