Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 21 December 2023
A delegation representing the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), led by R. Surendran Pillai, President, and D. Ayyappan, Vice President of CITU A & N State Committee, convened with the Secretary of Rural Development in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on December 19, 2023. The primary agenda was to advocate for fair rights and benefits for daily rated mazdoors employed in Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samitis across the islands.
The delegation emphatically demanded the allocation of 1/30th of pay plus Dearness Allowance (DA) to be extended to all daily rated mazdoors working in Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samitis. Pillai and Ayyappan underscored the disparity, highlighting that while daily rated mazdoors in other departments had received these benefits, hundreds in Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samitis were yet to be granted the same privileges.
In response to the delegation’s plea, the Secretary of Rural Development assured the CITU representatives that the matter had the Administration’s active attention. The Secretary affirmed that a decision regarding this issue would be reached imminently.
The CITU delegation raised also another pressing concern about the prolonged delay in disbursing monthly wages to daily rated employees under the Rural Development Department. Despite previous communications with the relevant authorities, the wages for these workers have consistently been distributed only after the 20th of each month.
Expressing their dismay over the persistent delay, CITU leaders reiterated the urgency of prompt wage disbursement, emphasizing the financial strain it places on the affected employees. In response, the Secretary (RD) assured the CITU representatives of immediate action. She pledged to issue necessary directives to ensure timely release of wages to the Daily Rated Employees of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) Department.