The Hindu 04.02.2011
BMC casual employees defer cease-work agitation plan
Striking casual employees and sanitary workers of Berhampur Municipal
Corporation (BMC) deferred their cease work agitation from Thursday.
This decision came as a respite for the city which is
going to host sixth All India Telugu Conference to be inaugurated from
Friday, jointly by the Chief Minsters of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The
cease work agitation of these temporary employees and sanitary workers
from Tuesday had started to affect the sanitary condition of the city.
According to president of the Berhampur Municipal
Corporation Casual Employees Association, Prashant Kumar Behera, they
called off their cease work agitation following a decision of the BMC
authorities to provide them extra allowance of Rs.1,000 per month.
There are around 560 casual employees in the BMC who had
started agitation demanding regularisation of their posts and then to
be declared permanent employees. Adviser of the association,
E.Suryaprakash Rao said they had demanded payment of an extra allowance
of Rs.1,000 to each of them till they were made permanent staff of the
BMC. The BMC authorities had declared that they had started the process
with the State government to regularise the casual employees.
The decision to provide extra allowance of Rs.1,000 per
month to each of the temporary employees was taken at an emergency
meeting of the Establishment Committee of the BMC. As per a notification
made by the Commissioner of the BMC, the standing committee has
resolved to provide this incentive allowance of Rs.1,000 per month to
the temporary workers from own funds of the BMC. This resolution would
be placed in the next corporation meeting for approval.
Mr. Rao said as this notification showed some silver
linings they preferred to defer their strike not make the common
citizens of the city suffer. “But we have taken decision to restart our
cease work agitation if the promises made by the BMC authorities was not
fulfilled”, Mr. Rao said.
