Port Blair, May 15: The Port Blair Municipal Council has arbitrarily and illegally deducted the wages of 5 days from the monthly wages for the month of April, 2020 in respect of daily rated mazdoors working under the Council.  It has been reported that the wages have been deducted for contribution towards the LG’s Relief Fund/ PM CARES Fund.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Chetan Sanghi, the General Secretary, Centre for Indian Trade Union (CITU) said that the daily rated workers being low paid workforce are in great distress and mental agony following the lockdown.  With great difficulty these workers pull on the days with the meagre income and any unilateral wage cut for five days in a month will put them in further hardship.  The workers of PBMC are frontline workers in the fight against COVID 19 and there is no justification to treat them in this manner. 

The contribution towards the Relief Funds are normally made by the regular employees and at no time in the history the daily rated mazdoors were targeted for compulsory deduction of wages for the Relief Funds.  

 

Under the circumstances, CITU requested the Chief Secretary to intervene in the matter and direct the PBMC to return the deducted wages to the daily rated workers which will be of immense relief to these workers.