Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The issue of unpaid salaries for nearly 2,000 contract workers of the municipal corporation had become serious. There was an ongoing debate over the past few days about how and who should pay these workers. On Monday, the civic administration found a solution. On Tuesday, the salary will be directly credited to the workers' bank accounts via the municipal corporation’s accounts section. Employees will receive a substantial salary without any unnecessary deductions, making this year’s Diwali sweeter for them.
A total of 1,600 employees were hired by the municipal corporation through the Maharana Agency. Last month, the municipal corporation discontinued its contract with the agency. The employees under this agency were redistributed to two new agencies — Galaxy and Ashoka. The main issue was how to pay the employees' salaries for June and July. The administration did not want to process the salary via Maharana Agency anymore.
The new agencies could not be held responsible for payments pending under the old agency. There were concerns that if the corporation directly credited the money to the employees' accounts, it could lead to legal complications.
This led to intense internal discussions at the administrative level for the past 8–10 days.
Meanwhile, employees launched protests, held demonstrations, and even began work stoppages in front of the municipal corporation. Later on, the guardian minister intervened in the matter.
On Monday, administrator G Sreekanth, along with chief accounts officer Santosh Wahule and other officials, held discussions. They reviewed potential legal complications. Later on, the administration decided to pay the pending June and July salaries. These dues will be credited to employees' accounts on Tuesday.
It is learnt that the process to deposit August salary directly in the accounts is also underway.
Meanwhile, the attendance app will be referred before releasing the salary. Amounts for Provident Fund (PF) and ESIC will be deducted, and the remaining amount will be credited to workers’ accounts.
Fear of claims
The primary reason for hiring staff via external agencies is to avoid any future claims for permanent employment by contract workers. Now that the municipal corporation is directly crediting salaries to the workers’ accounts, there’s a concern that these workers might file legal claims for permanent positions.
However, the administration has dismissed this possibility, concluding it won’t pose a legal problem.