Tura, May 11: The repeated rejection by the striking employees of the assurances given by the GHADC authorities in several rounds of talks relating to payment of their pending salaries has compelled the new executive committee of the council to clear the air and bring to public domain the serious attempts made by them to reason it out with the protesting workers.

The Benedic Marak led Executive Committee of GHADC has made as many as four overtures to the agitating NGEA members to make them see reason about the financial condition of the council and the need to start its normal functioning so as to once again generate revenue for the benefit of Garo Hills and the workers as well.

Held a constructive meeting with CEM of GHADC, Sh Benedic Marak, Dy. CEM, Sh Nikman Marak and EM, Sh. Nathawal Marak in the presence of officials to discuss issues concerning reforms and interventions to streamline financial stability of the Council. pic.twitter.com/HYJiSZAfKZ

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) May 11, 2021

From an initial three months of salary disbursement proposal, the new EC had successfully negotiated with the state government for a bailout which now empowered it to provide salaries for five months to over a thousand staff of the GHADC. The salaries were to be paid under the existing Fourth Pay commission scale as soon as the council resumed normal functioning.

But, the protesting employees have rejected the offer and demand 12 months of pending salary under the revised and new scale of the fifth Pay Commission.

This has been termed untenable because the CEM Benedic Marak, in his last attempt at reaching out with the striking workers during a meeting on Monday, placed before the NGEA leaders the actual figure of money available in the council treasury which stands at just Rs 96,30,738/-.

“Unless the district council is allowed to function and staff returns to work there can be no revenue generation and no files can move,” the CEM has stated time and again.

As the striking workers stand their ground and refuse to budge from their demand seeking 12 months pay under new scale, the GHADC EC has put into public domain the number of negotiations undertaken with the striking leaders to bring about an amicable solution.

Deputy CEM Nikman Ch Marak issued an official document highlighting the number of talks conducted with the NGEA to try and end the impasse.

First Attempt:- “Soon after his election and on the same day, CEM Benedic Marak convened a bilateral meeting with the striking employees through NGEA to discuss their demands, vis-à-vis, removal of the Secretary of the Executive Committee and disbursement of their long pending salary of 33 months. Even after a threadbare discussion, the meeting ended inconclusively despite the assurance given by the CEM,” mentions Deputy CEM Nikman Ch Marak in the statement.

Second Attempt: A joint meeting at Tura circuit house on April 28th that had participation of church leaders, Council of Nokmas, leaders of NGOs, civil society groups, senior citizens, former ANVC leaders and other stakeholders.

“The meeting concluded with the formation of a committee under the aegis of “Good Governance of GHADC” and unanimously selected Rev. F D Sangma as its convenor. Accordingly, on April 30th Rev F D Sangma along with other church leaders had met the striking employees but the meeting ended inconclusive,” said Nikman Marak.

Third Attempt: A meeting of MDCs from both ruling and opposition parties that took place in the circuit house that led to formation of a High Level Committee (HLC) with Nikman Ch Marak from the EC as Convener and Cherak W Momin from the opposition Congress as Co-convener. The HLC held a meeting with the NGEA leaders in the CEM office chamber in presence of CEM Benedic Marak.

“Despite the assurance given by the CEM to pay three months salaries and repeated appeals made by the high level committee members, the striking employees have refused to resume their duties and insisted on their demand for change of the Secretary and payment of 12 month salary based on the Fifth Pay Commission. Thus, the meeting ended in a stalemate without reaching any point of agreement. The NGEA had straight away rejected the noble attempts made by various committees, church leaders and stakeholders,”said Nikman Marak.

Fourth Attempt: A meeting on May 10th in CEM office between NGEA leaders and EC led by CEM Benedic Marak. In that meeting it was made known to the protesting leaders that the council treasury was under a tremendous financial crunch with just a small sum of Rs. 96,30,738/- available in its coffers.

“The CEM assured the employees that salaries for five months will be paid based on the fourth Pay Commission and their demand for the fifth Pay Commission shall also be implemented with retrospective effect in the form of arrear after the financial recuperation by the council Treasury. But to the utter dismay of the Executive Committee, these genuine response were also once again proved to be futile as the NGEA has changed their stance by stressing their demand for clearing of salaries for 12 months affecting the 5th Pay Commission,” a disappointed Dy CEM Nikman Marak revealed in the statement to provide evidence of the number of overtures made by the new Executive Committee to try and reason it out with the agitating staff and bring back normal life to the district council.