Jamshedpur, Aug. 22: Anger is simmering among workers at Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary with the forest department failing to clear their wages due since April.
Around 40 daily wagers, including trackers, chowkidars, drivers and cooks, have threatened to stop work from next week if their dues are not cleared at the earliest.
They are paid Rs 187, Rs 10 more than what they used to get till March this year.
They have convened a meeting at Makulakocha village tomorrow to discuss their future course of action to mount pressure on the department.
“We have informed all daily wagers to assemble at Makulakocha for the meeting. We have not been paid for the past five months. We are poor people and have to take care of our families. We will not work from next week,” said Shrishtidhar Mahto, president of Van Shramik Sangh (VSS), an umbrella organisation of daily wagers.
A strike by daily wagers will mean tourists will not be able to enjoy piping hot food prepared at the scenic Pinderbera forest guest house atop the hills and forest safari across the 192sqkm sanctuary.
Moreover, there will be no chowkidar to regulate the entry of visitors and vehicles at the main entry point at Makulakocha. The absence of trackers, village youths who keep tabs on the movement of elephants and other animals, will further compound the problems.
VSS secretary Manjit Sardar said they were left with no other option but to hit the protest path.
“We had raised the issue when new Dalma divisional forest officer Smita Pankaj visited the sanctuary last month. She had issued orders to clear the dues at the earliest. But nothing happened. This is farming season but we have no money to buy seeds. We are very angry with this attitude of the forest authorities,” said Sardar.
Dalma range officer Mangal Kachhap admitted that the daily wagers were in dire straits. “But what can we do? The department has not cleared funds. I am not in a position to say as to when the dues will be cleared,” he told The Telegraph.
Sources in the Dalma forest range office in Mango said dues would be cleared once DFO Smita Pankaj returned from her maternity leave. “The DFO is on leave now. Dues of the daily wagers will be cleared once she rejoins office,” a source added.
