Dehradun. A delegation of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan Contract Workers Union met the Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan at her official residence in Yamuna Colony, Dehradun. The purpose of this meeting was to bring forward the problems of the workers working in the Jal Sansthan, especially the non-deposit of EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and ESI (Employees State Insurance) amount for the workers working through contractors.
The delegation informed the Assembly Speaker that these workers are not getting the benefit of these facilities, which has seriously affected their financial condition. The Speaker listened to these problems seriously and assured immediate action in this regard. He immediately wrote a letter to the Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and directed to take appropriate steps to resolve the problem.
The Speaker of the Assembly wrote in his letter that “The representatives of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan Contract Workers Union, Uttarakhand Pradesh, personally contacted the undersigned and informed in detail about the difficulties related to non-payment of wages on time, non-deposit of EPFO, ESI to the workers working through contractors on drinking water schemes in Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan.
They have presented the details of 10 different contractors who are currently providing services to Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan through outsourcing and requested to take appropriate action against them as per rules, although the department has directed the concerned departmental branches to take action like blacklisting against such firms/contractors, but it is necessary to ensure appropriate guidelines from the government level in this regard.
Issuing detailed guidelines for the service provider (employer), it is expected that they should register on the Gem portal and take further action accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to take appropriate action at the government level to solve the problems described by the workers working through contractors in Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan.
The Assembly Speaker said that the demands of the contract workers are absolutely justified and the government will take cognizance of this matter. He also said that protecting the interests of the workers is the priority of the government and their problems will be resolved as soon as possible. This visit has brought a ray of hope among the workers of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan that their problems will be resolved soon.
