Nov. 9: Employees of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) today came down heavily on the state government for not being able to deposit the outstanding amount in the contributory provident fund (CPF) account.
Peeved at the “indifferent” attitude of Dispur, the employees said they have lost faith in the government as none other than chief minister Tarun Gogoi has failed to keep his promise to the employees.
General secretary of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Karmachari Sangha, Chandan Sarma, said on May 10 this year, the chief minister had assured them that Rs 11.65 crore (out of the total outstanding amount of Rs 25 crore) will be deposited in the CPF account by August.
Sarma said even the commissioner and secretary of the Guwahati development department (GDD), A. Bhutani, conveyed this decision to the GMC commissioner through an official letter. “However, the government seems to have backtracked from its promise made to the employees as it has failed to deposit the promised Rs 11.65 crore so far,” he said. Of the outstanding Rs 25 crore, the government has deposited Rs 5.5 crore. “From April this year, we are depositing regularly in the CPF account,” a senior GMC official said.
Commenting on the backlog, the official said it is because the money could not be deposited into the account on a regular basis for lack of funds.
Sarma said the government had assured them that of the total Rs 25 crore, Rs 11.65 crore would be deposited by August and the rest by November. “But so far the government has deposited only Rs 5.5 crore,” he added.
Sarma said the corporation has been annually deducting around Rs 14 lakh, which is 12 per cent of the basic salary of the employees, for CPF. “But instead of depositing the amount in the provident fund account, the corporation diverted the money for some other purpose, which is gross injustice towards the employees. “We demand that Rs 14 lakh, which is the employees’ contribution and the equal contribution of the corporation, should be deposited immediately with the backlog, or else we will be forced to resume our agitation,” he added.
