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Ludhiana: Protest at sewa kendras over salary delay hassles visitors
Citizens who turned up at the kendras to avail essential government services were left fuming as they were either forced to wait for hours or asked to return on the next working day
Chaos and inconvenience prevailed across Ludhiana on Friday as all 40-odd sewa kendras in the district remained shut for most of the working day due to a strike by employees protesting “irregular” salary disbursals and “unexplained deductions”. The agitated workers staged a demonstration at the deputy commissioners’ office here to press their demands.
Citizens who turned up at the kendras to avail essential government services were left fuming as they were either forced to wait for hours or asked to return on the next working day. The kendras, which provide more than 400 public services including birth and death certificates, Aadhaar enrolment, residence and caste certificates, marriage registrations, pension schemes and driving licenses, remained non-functional until late afternoon.
The workers alleged that their salaries are, by rules, expected to be released by 10th of every month, but it is delayed regularly and at times by over a month. According to Gurpreet Singh, president of the Sewa Kendra Union, Ludhiana, “Our salary for June was supposed to be credited by July 10, but it came only on July 31. To make matters worse, many of the workers were not even given full salaries. Those entitled to ₹10,500 were given only ₹7,000. Most of us saw a deduction of around ₹3,000 to ₹3,500.”
The union’s president further said that the employees were initially told that the amount had been deducted but later learnt from company officials that it had been withheld and would be credited with next month’s salary.
During the protest, officials from the private company contracted to operate the kendras met the workers and assured them that their concerns would be resolved by August 10, the protesters said. “If there is no resolution by then, we will be compelled to launch a pens-down strike,” warned Gurpreet Singh.
The strike ended at 3 pm following the company’s assurance, and the sewa kendras reopened for two hours from 3 pm to 5 pm. However, many people had already left disappointed.
Earlier in the day, Atul Mongia, a resident of the city, said, “I took time off from work to get rectified an error in my younger son’s birth certificate, which his school has asked to be submitted by Monday. But the kendra was shut. Now I’ll have to skip work again on Monday and request the school for more time.” He was one of the many people who were affected due to the strike at sewa kendras.
