Morung Express News
Dimapur | February 8
The employees of Hotel Saramati, Dimapur today made an appeal to the Nagaland state government to intervene as their salaries remain unpaid since December 2014. The employees told the media on February 8 that despite the Chief Minister’s September 2015 “verbal assurance” to look into the matter there has been no positive response till date.
Stating that they have been “victimized” and deprived of benefit despite working diligently, the aggrieved employees stated that the NIDC and the Nagaland State government as stakeholders of the hotel have the responsibility to look after the welfare of its employees. Reminding the authorities in concern to redress the pressing matter with utmost urgency by this month (February), the employees stated that they will have no other option but to take further course of action.
Hotel Saramati as a public sector undertaking is run by the Nagaland Hotels Ltd. (NHL) with the NIDC as the holding company. With 25 rooms, one restaurant and a banquet hall, the hotel has 60 employees at present with a few resigning over the course of the last year, due to unpaid salaries.
Over-staffing and low returns have adversely affected the employees, who revealed that going by the number of rooms available and services offered Hotel Saramati requires no more than 40 staffers. Declining income and growing employee-count has tightened the purse strings, the employees said, while adding that whatever the hotel generates in revenue is barely enough to fulfil statutory tax due to the government.
“While we are not getting our salaries, development works in the hotel is going on,” commented one of the employees. “It just goes to show that human resource development is being neglected. The government is neglecting the welfare of the employees.”
In addition to the employees of the hotel, the employees at the NHL office in Dimapur have also not received salary for over 7 months, it was informed.
