Many zoo staff may suffer financial loss

A RECENT High Court judgment has upset many employees of the Kanpur Zoo. They are apprehending heavy financial loss following the judgement. According to sources, the zoo authorities engaged over two dozen workers on daily wages who have been working there for several years.

A RECENT High Court judgment has upset many employees of the Kanpur Zoo. They are apprehending heavy financial loss following the judgement.

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According to sources, the zoo authorities engaged over two dozen workers on daily wages who have been working there for several years.

Their salary varied from Rs 800 to Rs 1000 per month. They were supposed to perform all duties of permanent employees.

In 1996, four daily wage employees, Sone lal, Madhvanand, Karan Singh and Kishan Chander, filed a petition in the High Court claiming equal pay for equal work. The Court passed an interim order in 1999 and directed the government to pay all these employees a sum of Rs 5,400 per month as their salary till the disposal of the case. The government following the court directives allowed a monthly salary of Rs 5,400.

The court, during the final hearing of the case, passed the orders withdrawing the relief it had granted to the daily wage employees and passed an interim order in this connection. The court fixed the salary of the daily wagers at Rs 1,710 per month. Their claim of equal pay for equal work could not be sustained.

The decision of the court put the daily wage employees in trouble. While they have lost all hopes of getting equal pay for equal work, they fear that the government might recover the excess payment made to them following the interim order of the court.

If the government recover the money, each employee would lose Rs 2 lakh.

However, the zoo authorities refused to comment on the issue. The zoo director said that the government was aware of the Court decision, and it had probably referred the matter to legal experts seeking their opinion. The director said that neither the zoo authorities nor the government could act against the law and the court decision.

Meanwhile, the aggrieved employees were making efforts to put their case before the government to avoid financial loss.