The Non Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has written to Governor Satya Pal Malik stating their intention to boycott the upcoming elections on April 9 if the council’s royalty share of Rs 55 crore and the pending salaries of the employees of over 28 months are not cleared.
“We submitted a memo to the Governor apprising him of the various problems of the employees and sought his intervention in the non release of Rs 55 crore due to the GHADC as royalty share from the state. We also requested him to utilize the Rs 18.2 crore sanctioned by the central government to pay the employees,” said Johnny Arengh, the President of the NGEA.
The NGEA further objected to the government’s plan to recover the Rs 15 crore that the elections will cost to hold from the royalty share owed to the GHADC.
“We doubt the seriousness of the government in clearing our salaries as they are able to recover and spend an amount of Rs 15 crore from the royalty. If they can release the royalty for the purpose of elections, they should be able to do the same for the legal share of royalty owed to us,” added Joint Secretary, Flaming Marak.
They further added that more than 25 families have lost loved ones due to lack of funds for medical expenses due to the non-payment of salaries. The matter is still pending with the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC).
“We will boycott the upcoming elections to the GHADC as well as abstain from our duties if the government fails to pay the Rs 55 crore royalty and clear our salaries,” they added.
Further the NGEA also demanded the removal of GHADC Secretary Rikse Marak over allegations of the officer harassing the employees for raising the issue of salary non-payment and the diversion of funds meant for salaries.
