MARGAO
Just a week ago, these daily rated workers were an elated lot after the Supreme court ruled in favour of equal pay for equal work. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'surgical strikes' on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes has left them high and dry now, as the workers had to go without their wages now and in the near future.
Around 60-70 odd daily wage workers, employed by the civic body on garbage collection and on the city roads, have not been paid their wages till date. Many of them took the rounds of the municipal building in the last two days, hoping against hope that the civic body would disburse their wages at the earliest.
The sad news came on Thursday when the municipal cashier, who inquired with a nationalized bank for withdrawal of cash to clear wages of these workers, was told that the municipality’s plea to withdraw a whopping amount of Rs 17 lakh cannot be met post-Modi’s decision to scrap the currency notes.
That the amount sought to be withdrawn by the municipal pertains to the payment of wages to the daily wage workers did not find favour with the bank officials, who have expressed their helplessness in the matter. Left with no alternative, the cashier is believed to have drawn attention of the employees concerned, leaving the wage earners dazed and dejected.
The Goa Municipal Employees Association has expressed shock and surprise that the banks could not release the payment of wages of the beleaguered employees. Association General Secretary Anil Shirodkar felt that the banks should remove the restrictions so far as payment of the wages of the daily wage workers are concerned, adding that the workers will indeed find themselves in a tight spot for want of their hard earned earnings.
Bank officials are believed to told the MMC officials that they cannot permit withdrawal of money amounting to Rs 17 lakh in one transaction citing the RBI guidelines to allow withdrawal of only Rs 10,000 per person per day.
That the beleaguered workers will have to wait for some time to get their wages became clear when the bank officials informed the civic body that the RBI may come out with fresh guidelines to the cash withdrawals only after November 23.
In the meantime, MMC employees, who were eligible for overtime payments, will also have to wait for some time, since there’s no money in the civic coffers to clear the payments. It is learnt that overtime payments to the tune of Rs 8-9 lakh has not been paid of the regular civic employees till date.
