The Class-IV employees working in the gram panchayats (GPs) of Bargarh district held an emergency meeting here on Monday under the chairmanship of district president of their union Gopal Bhoi to protest against the State Government's apathy.
They formed a committee and decided to launch agitation if their demands continued to be ignored. They demanded regularisation of jobs and salary hike. They alleged that the secretary, peon, sweeper and night watcher were appointed by their respective Gram Panchayat. But while the job of secretary was regularised, all others were ignored.
They also said that the Chief Minister and the then PR Minister Arun Sahoo had assured them to sort out the problem when they had gheraoed the PR Minister’s residence in Bhubaneswar on January 11,2016. But later, they forgot everything.Now the employees are getting a paltry salary of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month for which they have to lead a miserable life. They gave a week's deadline for the Government to consider their demands. Among others, Kailash Khuntuli, Jay Patel, Upendra Behera, Kirtan Podha and Sanjeeb Bhua were present.