Hundreds of members of the Temporary Employees’ Association of the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BMC) led by its president Surya Prakash Rao staged a dharna before the BMC Commissioner’s office here since Tuesday in support of their charter of demands.
The demands includes payment of revised wages to the work-charged employees as per the Government norms with effect from August 8, 2013 and regularisation of service as per the orders of the Government on August 5, 2013.
Association president Rao alleged that the BMC Commissioner is not coming to his office deliberately to avoid the employees. If the Commissioner continues to do so, the agitating employees would be forced to shift their dharna to the official residence of the Commissioner, he cautioned. The dharna would continue day and night till the demands are met, he warned.
The association has been time and again demanding confirmation and regularisation of temporary employees working in the erstwhile Brahmapur Municipality and under the present BMC since last two decades, but the genuine demands remain unheeded, said association working president Prafulla Jena and general secretary Gangadhar Mishra.
Though the Government had accepted the demands in principle and issued directives to the BMC in August last year for permanent appointment of these employees, the BMC deliberately appointed them as work-charged staff, they alleged.
On Tuesday when the association’s office-bearers went to submit the charter of demands, the BMC Commissioner was found absent, and being aggrieved the employees immediately resorted to the dharna.