Temporary employees protest, demand increase in salaries
Cooch Behar: Tension flared outside the Cooch Behar Municipality office on Thursday as temporary employees staged a protest demanding a salary hike. The demonstration took place just as a board meeting of the Cooch Behar Municipality was about to begin.
As councillors arrived to attend the meeting, they were stopped at the entrance by a group of temporary employees who voiced their grievances. Among those halted were vice-chairperson Amina Ahmed and Ward 16 Councillor and Trinamool Congress district president Abhijit De Bhowmik.
The protest prompted immediate discussion during the board meeting. Municipal sources revealed that there are approximately 800 temporary employees working under the Cooch Behar Municipality. A decision was taken to prepare a detailed list of these employees and submit it to the state government.
Sujit Das, a protesting temporary employee, said: “We have been working for a long time, but our current salary is not enough to support our families. We are demanding a minimum of Rs 15,000 per month. We’ve urged the councillors to take up our demand in the board meeting.”
Councillor Abhijit De Bhowmik supported the workers’ demands. “The employees’ demands are justified. We will do our best to ensure their salaries are increased soon,” he said. Municipality Chairman Rabindra Nath Ghosh echoed this sentiment. “The employees’ demands are legitimate. Since our board came into office, we increased their salary to Rs 7,000. However, everything depends on the municipality’s revenue.
The state government had issued a circular in 2017 requesting a list of temporary employees from all municipalities. While lists were submitted for 124 municipalities and 6 corporations, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling were, for some reason, excluded. We will send the updated list this week,” he explained. He further added: “Whatever assistance the state government provides, we intend to supplement it further. Our goal is to raise the minimum salary to at least Rs 10,000.”
