M’laya activist petitions NHRC, Labour Comm on pending salaries of GHADC staff

Prominent Meghalaya-based social activists Cherian Momin on Monday petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Labour Commission of India, seeking their intervention in resolving the non-payment of salaries, amounting to over Rs 270 crore, to employees of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
Protesting employees under the banner of Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) said they will continue with the sit-in demonstration till the National People’s Party (NPP)-led Executive Committee of the GHADC clear all 43-month pending salaries.
In a separate letter to NHRC and Labour Commission of India with copies to State Governor C.H. Vijayshankar and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Momin termed the non-payment of salaries to GHADC employees for a staggering period of 43 months as a “human rights crisis”.
Under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, Meghalaya has three district councils – for the Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills – to safeguard tribal autonomy, culture, and governance. The autonomous councils also have the power on myriad issues such as forests, tax collection, and so on.
Momin said the denial of salaries for 43 months violates multiple layers of constitutional and statutory rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which India is a party, and which obligates the State to secure fair wages and decent living for its workers.
“The silence of the State Government and the GHADC authorities cannot be tolerated in a constitutional democracy. The right to life with dignity cannot be suspended for political convenience or administrative inefficiency,” Momin said, urging the NHRC and Labour Commission to intervene decisively and restore justice, dignity, and hope to the employees of GHADC. Stating that the situation has already resulted in widespread human suffering, the social activist said, “There are documented instances of employees unable to pay for their children’s education, resulting in school dropouts. There are reports of families unable to afford essential medicines, leading to preventable illnesses and deaths. Women employees and spouses of employees have been disproportionately affected, facing humiliation in local markets for unpaid dues, struggling to provide for their families, and enduring unimaginable psychological trauma,” Momin said.
The NGEA, representing over 1,300 GHADC employees, has rejected the financial-starved NPP-led Executive Committee’s overture to clear four of the 43 months pending salaries, to end sit-in-demonstration, which has entered the 50th day on Monday.
“1,352 GHADC employees will continue with our democratic protest till the NPP-led Executive Committee of the Council clear the 43-month pending salaries. We are only demanding our rightful dues and nothing more than that,” NGEA President Brithen M. Sangma said.
“We cannot accept their offer to clear our four months salaries. It is a huge backlog and almost all the employees have borrowed money to keep the kitchen fire burning, besides paying our children’s education and medical expenses. That’s why we want the council to clear all our pending dues so that we can repay the money we borrowed,” Brithen explained.
Meanwhile, several civil society organisations (CSOs) of Garo Hills and the opposition Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have extended
support to NGEA in their protest for unpaid salaries.
The CSOs said the “chronic maladministration, financial recklessness, and a flagrant disregard for accountability” have eroded the district council.
The TMC and BJP have also met Governor Vijayshankar and sought his personal intervention on the non-payment of salaries.