Excelsior Correspondent
REASI, Nov 8: A number of outsourced workers today staged a protest against the alleged highhandedness of contractors engaged by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
They were demanding same wages and benefits to the outsourced workers according to their skill, being granted to regular employees, who are doing similar work in NHPC. The protesting workers were also agitated over the alleged dictatorial attitude of the NHPC administration and they threatened to intensify the agitation if their demands are not met.
Till last reports came in, a meeting between the NHPC authorities and representatives of protesting workers was going on.
Dozens of workers struck work and staged a peaceful sit-in near Salal Dam to lodge protest against the local contractors for threatening to terminate their services for raising genuine demands of the employees.
Alleging that several workers were ousted for raising their rightful demands over the past few weeks, they were also demanding re-engagement of the terminated workers.
A senior NHPC officer along with police and civil officers visited the protesters and vainly tried to persuade them to return to the work but the protesting workers continued the sit-in seeking a direct meeting with the General Manager of the NHPC.
Sanjeev Singh, a local Sarpanch, who joined the protesters, alleged that the NHPC has given a free hand to contractors ignoring the fact it is the villagers who provided their land for the prestigious project. “We want resolution of the problems being faced by the workers instead of threatening and terminating their services. We will raise the issue with the Deputy Commissioner and will ensure that all the genuine demands of the workers are fulfilled as soon as possible,” he said.
These agitating workers are demanding benefits at par with regular employees, such as EPF benefit to outsourced workers, safety gadgets, 30 days salary instead of 26 days, free medical treatment, NHPC accommodation, admission to children of outsourced workers in KV school with special quota, allowances like Project Allowance, Generation Allowance, Night Allowance, Winter Allowance, festival bonus and promotion etc.
They also demanded that there should be a condition in the contract agreement regarding no change of outsourced worker in case of change of contractor.
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