Meghalaya govt asked to Garo Hills Council salaries before Christmas

Tura: The Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE) has urged both the state government and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) to release employees’ pending salaries before Christmas.

“It is very disconcerting to think about the financial and psychological condition of the GHADC employees just before Christmas. As far as we know, it has been almost 29 months that the employees are without salaries. The salaries of the GHADC became irregular starting from the month of August 2020 till now. While the salaries were released from time to time, now it has completely stopped. It seems like the state led by Conrad K. Sangma and the GHADC led by the new CEM have lost sympathy for these employees. Employees working under almost all other departments are getting their wages regularly, even including getting Christmas advances. So why this step-motherly treatment for those in the GHADC,” ADE president Dalseng Bira Ch Momin said.

The association, without mentioning the financial aid provided by the state and the central governments, said that revenue generated by the GHADC alone was enough to pay the salaries of the employees, and questioned if the same was being misused somehow. It made an appeal to the CEM and his colleagues to somehow arrange the salary amount so that they too can enjoy the festive season with their families.

The association also raised the issue of the border MoU signed between Meghalaya and Assam and urged the government to keep its promise made to the protesting groups during their meeting earlier.

“On August 23, we (FKJGP CEC, GH Zone, KSU etc) had a meeting with the authorities and they promised us that 12 villages which in fact fall in Meghalaya and have no dispute regarding the border, will be kept under Meghalaya. We would specifically like to mention the name of 3 villages namely Malangkona Jaypur, Malangkona Hohuapara and Malangkona Salbari, where people from generation to generation have been living as Meghalaya. The government should ensure that these villages remain with Meghalaya and not given to Assam,” the association said. 

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