Mumbai: More than 8,000 employees working at government-aided hostels across the state have threatened to commit suicide unless the government brings them under the purview of the Seventh Pay Commission. Most employees have been working for 20-odd years and are being paid a paltry Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 per month. The government has turned down their plea to make their positions permanent. State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “It is not possible to offer these employees permanent jobs. The government cannot afford the financial burden.”
Nagsen Pawar, president of the Maharashtra Rajya Anudanit Wastigruh Karmachari Wetanshreni Kruti Samiti (action committee of government-aided hostel employees for pay scale) said, “There are 2,388 government hostels and 8,104 employees working 24 hours. Our remuneration is Rs 5,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 per month for three different grades.
“Most employees have been working for the past several years. The salaries we are paid are not sufficient to meet our families’ needs. If anything goes wrong in the working of the hostel, we are immediately punished with a suspension or departmental inquiry, without being allowed to present our stand.” The employees have demanded they be included in the regular pay scale so that they can be paid at grades equivalent to those of government employees.
Pawar claimed they have brought this issue to the notice of Rajkumar Badole, the minister for social justice and Dilip Kamble, the minister of state for social justice. “Both ministers have ignored us and rejected our demand. We held protests at Junnar in Pune in November. But police forcibly threw out protesters and destroyed our tents,” Pawar claimed. “We have no option other than to commit suicide. Some have actually done so.
We have not yet decided the date, but plan to hold a dialogue with regional committee members to finalise our strategy,” said Pawar, who is from Pune. Badole said, “The social justice department is planning to give these employees a 20 per cent hike in monthly remuneration. The proposal has been sent to the finance department.”
