Deprived of salary, DRDA staff to go on month long agitation

Morung Express News
Kohima | August 10

 State government employees working under the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) have decided to undertake a month-long phase wise agitation in protest against the non-release of salaries for several months. 

A representation informing this was submitted to the State Government on August 9.

Salaries of DRDA staff have in the past often been delayed or have not been released for several months. Last year, a representation was submitted to the government for immediate release of salaries.  However, only a piece meal solution was arrived at with the government releasing 2 months worth of salary.

Officials from the Finance Department informed that the two month’s salary that was released last year was given in two installments—Rs 2.47 crore each. 

A copy of the representation letter made available to The Morung Express and appended by 291 members, including Project Directors and DRDA staff, expressed dismay over the “false assurances” made over the years.

While Kohima and Wokha DRDAs have not received salary for 11 and 12 months, the other districts have not received salaries for 3-6 months. The representation called this situation a “deliberate ignorance of our pleas and rightful salary despite repeated reminders.”

“RD Officials posted to DRDAs are caught in this vicious web, whereas the same employees when posted to other offices in the same department are free from this quagmire,” it stated.

The representation pointed out that officers, peons, chowkidars, sweepers etc are not able to pay their children’s school fees, causing much embarrassment and inviting repeated reprimands from school authorities.

An example of how employees are struggling, Mengutuonuo, a sweeper at Kohima DRDA office who has not received her salary for over 10 months, stated that shopkeepers have stopped giving her credit. As an alternative source of income, Mengutuonuo informed that she now also works as a waged labourer. Imnameren, an employee from the Mokokchung DRDA, also shared his struggles. Being the sole bread earner of the family, he lamented that he has had to take loans on interest to run the house and pay for his children’s fees. 

Employees under DRDA are regular staff of the state government and officers posted as Project Directors or Programme Officers on deputation are also permanent government employees and entitled to all salaries, rights and privileges just like any other state government employee serving the RD Department or any other government run office. 

“The GPF statements of the employees are also not being issued for nonpayment of the same,” the representation pointed out. It demanded that the state government release the salaries immediately and come up with a permanent solution both for the present and the future.  

Agitation to begin on Aug 16
To start the agitation, DRDA employees of 11 districts in the state will hoist black flags in all offices and wear black arm bands from August 16 to 22. It further stated that a pen down strike would be initiated from August 23 to 30. Following this, a mass casual leave will be called from September 2-6. 

The representation cautioned that failure to act within one month would compel the DRDAs to shut down offices and cease work.

DRDAs are the principal organs at district levels to oversee implementation of all schemes. A prolonged shutdown will affect smooth functioning of services in as much as 70 blocks. A direct effect will be the thousands of village beneficiaries and those holding job cards under MGNREGA, the representation pointed out.

Rural Development Principal Secretary, Bendangkokba, IAS and Secretary, Neposo Theluo, NCS meanwhile stated that DRDA directly comes under the Ministry of Rural Development and that salary and allowances are given in a 90:10 share basis. Accordingly, the proposal for the yearly budget requirement is submitted to the Ministry. 

Currently, the yearly fund requirement for Nagaland’s DRDAs is Rs. 22 crores, the officers informed. They however said that the “ministry never releases the requirement as required but releases by scale.”

While speaking of a permanent solution with regard to the delay and accumulation of salary, the RD officers cited that since the DRDA staff are regular government pensionable employees and not working under a project, it is the duty of the state government to bear the expenditure because other departments also have district offices where the state exchequer pays the salary.

The Principal Secretary pointed  out that this has been communicated to the State Finance Department several times. It however seems that responsibility gets shifted to the Ministry, with the assumption that sufficient funds are given by the Ministry.

He added that an immediate relief to clear the arrears would be taken up with the Finance Department as well as the RD Directorate.