Employees of Bhubaneswar Development Authority demonstrate in front of the office at Unit-III. (Below from left) BDA vice-chairman Deoranjan Kumar Singh and chairman Badrinarayana Patra attend a meeting in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 15: Housing and urban development minister Badrinarayan Patra was today gheraoed by employees of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) who were agitating for the fulfilment of their demands.

The employees, who staged a dharna on the fifth floor of the BDA building, waylaid the minister when he arrived to attend the monthly meeting of the BDA. However, the minister was allowed to go after he promised to look into their grievances.

The major demands of the employees include promotions, pension benefits and service conditions promised at the time of appointment.

Patra said that their demands were not new and he would look into them.

“They had been making these demands for a long time. We will look into the matter and try to sort out their problems,” said Patra.

“We have long been making these demands for quite sometime but the authorities have continually refused to listen to us. The minister, who is also the chairman of BDA, had been giving assurances but nothing has happened as yet. So we decided to protest today,” said Saroj Mallick, general secretary of BDA Karmachari Sangha.

The employees alleged that there was no promotion policy in the BDA.

“Whoever appeases the bosses gets promoted. Similarly, service conditions are not conducive for work and the employees continue to work in an atmosphere of uncertainty,” said Sadashiv Das, one of the employees

They also alleged that nearly 1,000 employees, who are about to retire, would not get pension, as the BDA does not have a pension policy.

“Several employees have retired and now they are facing a lot of problems, as the state government’s pension scheme has not been applied here,” said Pramod Mishra, vice-president of the Karmachari Sangha.

Although BDA was formed in 1983, all its employees were regularised only last year. According to the Sangha, nearly 1,000 employees are working for BDA that has been taking up the planned and systematic development of Bhubaneswar.

The employees said that they had been carrying out such protests, with the demands mentioned above, but the authorities had been taking time without really addressing the problem.

They said in the last meeting held in 2010, the minister had ordered to form a committee to discuss and find out a solution along with them.

The general secretary of the Karmachari Sangha alleged that the committee did not work properly and it formed sub-committees.

“Till now the committee has not worked accordingly to fulfil the need of its very existence,” he said.

He also said the minister called them later in the afternoon and discussed about their issues.

“He has assured us to solve the issue. The vice-chancellor and secretary of BDA too would also look into the matter,” added Mallick.

Meanwhile, the minister said that these were not new demands. “They had been demanding for long and we will look into the matter and their problems will be sort out soon,” said the minister.