Activist Kingstone B Marak has lashed out at Tura MP Agatha Sangma after she urged the Non Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) to end its strike in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
Agatha had said that the employees should accept the five months of salary arrears that was being proffered by the new executive committee and resume work in view of the inconvenience caused to the public because of the strike.
Through a press release, Kingstone questioned why the MP had been silent for all the months that the NGEA has raised the issue of non-payment of salaries, which is approaching 36 months in total now.
“All these years she (Agatha) was silent and did not bother to intervene and her request has caught everyone by surprise. As MP she represents the entire people. She should have intervened about the non-payment of salary for many years,” said Kingstone.
The activist further questioned the pledge of the Tura MP to donate Rs 1 crore to Covid-19 relief efforts from her MP scheme allowance, asserting that the Rs 5 crore allotted to every member of parliament could have been used to pay salaries of the GHADC staff.
“As a representative of Tura, she should have addressed the problems faced by her own people instead of lending her financial support to the central government. Instead of requesting the employees to accept the five months’ salary, she should request the EC of the GHADC and the state government to arrange the required amount to pay all pending salary of employees,” he opined.
