DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 12: The staff and employees of Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) today staged a protest against non-release of their salaries for two consecutive months.
Agitating with banners and placards in the DMC premises, the DMC Employees Welfare Union said that it is their first protest in the form of posters and banners and sought redressal to their grievances.
The Union also submitted a memorandum to the Administrator, DMC, wherein they served a 10- day ultimatum for redressal of their grievances and warned that they would go for no work till their grievances in respect of payment of salaries are redressed.
In the memorandum signed by T Revo Anar, President, DMC Employees Welfare Union and Agan Rimai, General Secretary, the Union stated that the DMC does not have an elected body since 2010 and is being run by the Government through its deputed Administrative Officer, whereto the Central fund allocation earmarked for Municipal body by the Central Government has not been provided to the DMC since 2010.
However, it said the DMC has been maintaining the establishment expenses having huge burden of salary of its 429 number of staff/employees besides development of the civic body out of the receipt derived from Urban Utility Fee, House Rent, Trade Licence Free and negligible amount from sanitary tax, but since the Government banned collection of toll tax through its notification on May 19, 2022, the DMC is debarred from the collection of Urban Utility Fee for which the financial condition of the civic body have been severely affected and it is already two months, the staff/employees of the DMC has not been paid with monthly salary, besides, the service benefits ~ gratuity, leave encashment, professional tax, etc are also left non-deposited.
The Union informed the Administrative Officer that due to non-receipt of salary, the DMC employees along with their dependent family members are leading toward starvation and in some cases owing to the failure of payment of school fees, the academic of the children/wards of the employees/staff are badly interrupted and hampered.
The Union further stated that since DMC has not been provided with financial grants and the major earning source of revenue are also being stopped, the DMC Employees Welfare Union approached the competent authority through a representation and prayed for consideration of the matter, enabling to make payment of the salary of the staff and employees who are wholly dependent upon their source of earning from their salary, but there was no redressal.
Later interacting with media persons, T Revo Anar said that since the salaries of the DMC employees have not been released for past two months, they have resorted to poster campaign and have given 10 days ultimatum to redress their grievances.
He said that in other States the Municipalities are surviving through property tax but in Nagaland it is not possible due to Article 371 (A). “Ours only revenue collection was toll tax, but it has been stopped”, he rued.
Stating that all DMC check posts have been closed, the main fund resource of the Municipal Council has been closed down. He disclosed that at present the DMC has only 3 primary source of income which is trade licence, house rent and urban utility fees, which is meagre and cannot suffice the burden of huge staff strength of 429 employees.
He said the actual post in the Dimapur Municipal Council is 260 but the staff strength has increased to 429, which have put a huge burden on the Council in terms of payment of their salaries.
He disclosed that the DMC incurs approximately Rs 1.20 crore as expenses including salaries in a month out of which around Rs 95 lakhs goes only for salaries of the staff.
He said that 60% of the income used to come from the toll tax collected from various DMC gates, but since May 20 last it has been closed.
The Union President also said that they had earlier submitted a representation to the Government on May 27 last, but they have not received any response.
(Page News Service)
