FAT’S IN THE FIRE: Posters outside Nizam’s. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Calcuttans had barely got a bite of their favourite kathi roll at Nizam’s, before the kitchen fires seem to be dying out.

The bright yellow boards that read Nizam’s were set up this September, after the new management reopened the eatery after resolving the labour issues.

But the red Citu flags and posters outside the eatery clearly tell another story. The Calcutta City Eating and Restaurant Establishment, affiliated to Citu, has also hoisted its red flags outside the main entrance of Nizam’s. The employees claim the management has not cleared their dues, despite their promises.

“We will continue with our campaign indefinitely until the management reverts to us. They had assured us that our dues and gratuity would be paid. We have even signed an agreement,” claimed an employee representative. “We were given an amount of Rs 5,500 on joining and were supposed to get the rest on December 7. But we didn’t receive anything.”

The inventors of “kathi kebab rolls and fast food” had downed shutters for almost three years owing to labour union difficulties, then run by proprietor Irshad Alam. The eatery, near New Market, was reopened after financer Lekhraj Kapoor took over the management.

“We had already spoken to the union. But nothing has materialised yet,” said Lekhraj Kapoor.

The labour and employee representatives refuse to take the matter as a casual affair and threaten to continue with the dharna. “Today, we have put up flags, tomorrow we could be putting up posters,” warned an employee.

For the roll-lover, it may be a long wait. However, employees insist that the shop is not closed to the public. “At times, we request the customers to take away their orders, rather than sit down for a meal,” said an employee.