HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, March 4: The newly appointed contractual Grade IV employees working under 11 polytechnic institutes and 2 engineering colleges across the state, including Sonitpur Polytechnic Institute, are registering a strong protest by staging a non-cooperation program starting from March 1 for an indefinite period due to the non-fulfillment of their long-pending demands.
Expressing their grave concern over the indifferent attitude of the concerned department, the aggrieved members of the association mentioned that a total of 347 contractual Grade IV employees from the respective polytechnics and engineering colleges in the region, including Sonitpur Polytechnic, have been serving dedicatedly in these institutions since their inception, receiving only minimal remuneration.
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“The most regrettable aspect is that although other employees working on the same campus and under the same authority are receiving their regular salaries, we, the 23 contractual employees here at Sonitpur Polytechnic, despite our sincere service in every aspect from maintaining cleanliness to office maintenance of the institution, have been deprived of our minimal remuneration, which has plunged us into deep depression as we also have responsibilities towards our families,” lamented the aggrieved employees.
It is worth mentioning that Sonitpur Polytechnic was established in 2017, and since then, these 23 contractual employees have been rendering their services to the institute under a private agency named HRD. However, as the agency failed to provide timely remuneration and PF account funds to these contractual employees, the agency ultimately surrendered their services to Sonitpur Polytechnic in 2019, as per the notification/directive of the former director of Technical Education, Government of Assam. They have been serving in the organisation as Grade IV employees since then.
Pradip Kumar Nath, advisor of the association, expressed their woes due to the precarious situation resulting from the non-payment of their remuneration for the last 18 months, urging the authorities to immediately address their issues, or else they would continue their agitation until their long-pending demands are met.
