GMEA sets Ganesh Chaturthi deadline to regularise 600 daily wage workers

Association threaten to strike work across State if demand not metrrthe goan I networkrMARGAOrrAfter a meeting of Union representatives in the city here on Friday, Association President Keshav Prabhu said the Union will serve the strike notice on each of the Municipal bodies and the government on Monday, demanding regularisation of the 600 daily wage workers within 15 days. “We would like to give enough time for the Municipal bodies and the government to resolve the issue as per the recommendation of the panel headed by former Mapusa Municipal Council Chairperson Sandeep Fallari to regularise all daily wage workers who have completed five years of service,” Prabhu said.rHe wondered why the daily wage workers have still not been regularised by the Municipal bodies though the panel had submitted the report months ago. “First, they attributed the delay to the election code of conduct, and now we are being told that at least two civic bodies have opposed the regularisation of these workers,” he said.rHe pointed out that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had agreed to start the process for regularisation of the daily wage workers, but lamented that the process has still not got underway till date. “How can these Municipal bodies oppose the move when they had adopted unanimous resolutions in support of regularisation of the daily wage workers,” Prabhu wondered. rHe lamented that some of these workers had put in work for 10-15 years, to keep the cities free from garbage, but are yet to get their services regularised. Of the total 600 daily wage workers, around 240 workers have been working for the Corporation of the City of Panaji, followed by another 70 workers employed by the Margao municipal body.rrrrCommon cadre will reduce status rof municipalities to Zillas: GMEArrMARGAO: Municipal employees under the banner of Goa Municipal Employees Association (GMEA) has said any decision to introduce common cadre will reduce the Municipal bodies in the State to the status of Zilla Panchayats with the government exercising control over the local self governing bodies. rAsked to comment on the demand raised in the Common Minimum Programme to introduce common cadre for the municipal employees, president of the employees association said those demanding common cadre are doing so for ulterior motive, challenging the government to point out whether there’s any state in the country which has implemented common cadre for Municipal employees. r“Common cadre will only ensure that the municipalities lose their right. The Director of Municipal Administration will be more powerful. Common cadre will only render the Municipalities as another government department since the employees will be responsible to the DMA and not to the Municipal chairperson,” he said, adding that enforcing common cadre for the engineers and accountants will have negative fall out on their pensions and other issues.r“I do not know whether the elected chairpersons and councillors are demanding common cadre out of ignorance. In fact, the elected councillors ought to have opposed common cadre and not the employees. If there’s common cadre, the DMA will be our boss and not the elected Council,” he said.rWhen his attention was drawn to reports that the prevailing system has failed to keep a check on the employees, Prabhu shot back saying “the Chief Officers should crack a whip if there’s any indiscipline or the staff is not working. Common cadre is certainly not an option.”