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.