TWAD employees union demands regularisation of contract workers

RAMANATHAPURAM

Even after several courts directed the TWAD Board management to regularise the contract workers without any delay, the order had not been implemented, said TWAD Board Employees Union affiliated with the CITU here on Sunday.

The two-day 11th State-level conference was held in Ramanathapuram district and members from ac ross Tamil Nadu participated.

M Chandran, vice-president of CITU-Tamil Nadu unit, presided. Ramanathapuram district secretary M Sivaji welcomed the gathering. Various resolutions were passed in the conference during the valedictory session.

The meeting demanded appointment of employees across all laboratories as they were not filled after the retirement of the staff in service. As a result, the purity of the water was not tested. The gadgets in the labs too had not been used properly for a long time. Hence, the State government under the leadership of Chief Minister M K Stalin should expedite the works by recruiting qualified people.

The members wanted the State government to hand over the benefits to the retiring employees of the TWAD Board on the date of superannuation. As there was undue delay in settlement of the monetary benefits, the wards of the employees were forced to approach banks and other financial institutions seeking loans for higher education and other purposes.

The meeting said the TWAD Board incurred ₹28 (per kilo litre) as production costs for producing potable water which included electricity charges too. However, it collected a meagre ₹8.94 (per kilo litre) from village panchayats and ₹11.49 per kilo litre from Municipalities and Corporations in Tamil Nadu. This was in no way acceptable as the TWAD Board was already suffering from financial constraints. Hence, the government should either enhance the procurement costs and pay the TWAD Board or reimburse directly the difference to the TWAD Board, the conference resolved.

From a total of 12,000 employees in 1971, the TWAD Board strength had been reduced to 4,000 in Tamil Nadu. The government, though aware of the responsibilities of the TWAD Board, had not given ample support. The serving employees suffered a lot due to over burdened work and could not concentrate on new projects, which were required for the welfare of the State. Hence, fund allocation and also sanction of human resources should be accorded top priority by the government.