MePWU begins second phase of agitation

SHILLONG, Sept 6: The Meghalaya Progressive Workers’ Union (MePWU) demanded a deadline for the upcoming policy to regularise the contractual employees of Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Limited (MeECL).
The MePWU began their second phase of agitation with a sit-in demonstration which will continue till September 16 to demand regularization and the release of pending arrears of October 2018 till February 2019.
Speaking to media persons, president of MePWU, Mantiphrang Lyngdoh Kiri said that the union cannot accept the claims of deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong that the department is in financial crisis as in the past the department had implemented various projects worth crores of rupees.
Kiri claimed that the regularisation of contractual employees is not a matter of financial availability but it all depends upon the will of the department, especially with the board of directors of MeECL.
“We will not call off our agitation and we demand from the department to set a deadline to come up with a policy on regularisation of contractual employees as most of us are in the services for more than 20 years,” said Kiri.
Kiri also said that the union had received a letter from the department urging them to call off their ongoing agitation citing the impact to the services with regard to power supply but these are mere allegations to prevent them from expressing their protest on the delay tactics to fulfil their demands.
He added that the MePWU accepts the assurance of the deputy chief minister and the management when it comes to the pending arrears but it will not call off the ongoing agitation if the State Government fails to call them for talks.
“When it comes to the pending arrears, we were informed that it is under examination hence we have omitted it from our charter of demands but when it comes to regularisation, we want the concerned department to call us for talks to set up a deadline to come up with a policy for regularisation of all contractual employees of MeECL,” he added. (NNN)