After helping over three dozen contractual employees of Power department in getting their dues, the Right to Information (RTI) Act has once again come to the rescue of 65 contractual staff of Bijnore Nagar Palika Parishad. These employees have received their perks pending for more than four years.
Over five dozen staff of Bijnore Nagar Palika Parishad worked on contractual basis but failed to get their dues for two years (2011--13), The arrears tantamopunt to a whopping Rs 87 lakh.
The hapless worker first pleaded with senior officials before taking it up with the minister concerned. But when nothing positive emerged, they decided to use the RTI Act as the last tool to get their genuine dues cleared. Initially reluctant to comply with orders from the State Information Commissioner (SIC) Hafeez Usman, the officers after being warned of action, not only cleared the dues but also apprised the SIC about it in writing.
The frustarted staff filed an RTI seeking information on how many employees were engaged on contractual basis by the Parishad in 2011-13, how much payments were made to them or the contractors, whether any dues were pending and if so then what steps have been taken to clear them.
When the officers refused to reply, the aggrieved workers filed an application before the SIC seeking his intervention. The SIC first told the Parishad officials to furnish the details to the workers and when they ignored, he issued summoned and warned them of stern action.
Finally, on last Monday, the Executive Officer of Bijnore Nagar Palika Parishad, Jitendra Kumar Anand appeared before the SIC and apprised him that as per orders, all 65 contractual staff had been paid over Rs 87 lakh as dues against wages for the above mentioned period.