The Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has admitted that the State government does not owe them a paisa in salary but it does owe the council crores of rupees in royalties, the delay in payment of which has added to the GHADC’s financial woes.
The NGEA’s statement comes after ministers stated publicly that the State government is not responsible for paying the pending salaries of the autonomous district councils.
Having gone without regular salaries for more than two years (exactly how long is argued over), the GHADC staff, through the NGEA, said today that the state government has not released Rs 45 crore worth of royalties.
The last Chief Executive Member of the GHADC, before the council had Administrator’s Rule imposed on it, had written a letter to the government to this effect at the end of September.
The NGEA feels “that the MDA (Meghalaya Democratic Alliance) government is not interested in releasing the royalty share” despite knowing that GHADC employees have gone without salaries for more than two years.
