the goan I network
MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council’s decision to contribute its share of the provident fund amount to the municipal garbage workers without deducting from the daily wage of the workers from February 1 should hopefully set at rest concerns raised by the workers that the civic body had been illegally deducting the PF amount from their wages over the last several months.
The municipality’s decision to rectify the serious lapse from this month may ring in good news for the beleaguered workers, but they have a question or two for the Municipal Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai and Chief Officer Siddivinayak Naik “ what about the illegal deductions carried out by the civic body, denying them their right wage as mandated by the order issued by the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA)?
When The Goan contacted Babita Prabhudesai with a pointed question whether the civic body will credit the excess payment collected by the civic body from the workers, the MMC Chairperson she has asked the Chief Officer and the municipal staff to study the matter and come to a solution. In fact, she said that the civic body will approach the office of the Director of Municipal Administration to guide the civic body on this matter. The daily wage workers, however, said they should receive what rightfully belongs to them. “If the civic body has rectified its mistake, the Council should make good the illegal deductions,” a worker said.
Convenor of The Shadow Council for Margao, Savio Coutinho, however, has demanded that the excess payment deducted from the wages of the workers should be immediately credited along with interest into their account. “We have set 15 days as the deadline for the civic body to take a call or else we will explore legal action as per the provisions in force,” Coutinho warned.
He said the illegal act of the Margao Municipal Council by which the employer’s share of the provident fund has been fraudulently deducted from the wages of the workers needs to be strongly condemned. “The fact that this double deduction was taking place had been highlighted by the Shadow Council for Margao on May 1, 2018, yet the authorities preferred to continue depriving the workers of their hard-earned money,” he said.
“While it was mandatory for the council to deduct only one amount of 12% of the wages being contributors share, the council instead started deduction of an additional amount being employer’s share. This practice is a criminal offence in the first place, which is punishable with imprisonment and fine. On an average, each worker has been fraudulently deprived of an amount of Rs 1800 per month for the last 27 months (i.e. around 48000),” he added.
