Municipal employees hold protest in Pulwama to demand pending salaries

Pulwama July 1: The employees of Municipal Committee Pulwama on Thursday staged a protest to demand their pending salaries of the past two months.

The protesting employees, who worked as frontline warriors in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, said they have been deprived of their salaries after the Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO) catering to them retired on May 31.

   

The employees told Greater Kashmir that before the PAO retired, he “did not sign the salary bills” as a result of which the salary for the month remained unpaid.

With the district administration also not filling the PAO’s post, the salary for the month of June has not been paid to them, the employees said.

The agitated employees today assembled inside the premises of Municipal Committee Pulwama to lodge a protest to press for their demand.

The employees said that the non-payment of salaries had taken a toll on their families as they did not have any other source of income.

“We are frontline COVID-19 warriors and have always been on toes to contain this deadly disease, ” an employee said.

The protesting employees demanded their pending salaries be released ahead of upcoming Eid-ul-Adha so that they are able to celebrate the festival.

The employees also requested the LG Manoj Sinha, Finance Commissioner and DC Pulwama for filling the vacant PAO post or depute someone to take the charge so that they can receive the salary before Eid.

When contacted, Executive Officer MC Pulwama, Abdul Rashid Teli said that the issue has been brought into the notice of DC Pulwama and Finance Commissioner. He said the pending salaries of the employees will be released in coming days.

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