VMC to pay its arrears

Patel said now it was up to the administration to decide when to disburse the arrears. According to him, nearly Rs 1.50 crore would be paid to pensioners and about Rs 6 crore to the present staff.

Denying that the decision was taken under pressure from a section of the employees who had threatened to launch an indefinite strike if they were not paid the dues, Patel said though a provision had been made in the budget for 1999-2000, the committee wanted to disburse the amount in installments. On the committee postponing the decision for the last nearly three months, he claimed that a decision was delayed as a section of the members were divided on the nature of installments.

It may be noted that class IV employees and drivers had threatened to go on indefinite strike if they were not paid the dues. The staff union had also written to the State Government demanding that it should supersede and take over control of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation for its failure to disburse pay arrears to them according to the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations.

In a letter to the State Government on Wednesday, Vadodara Shehar Sudhrai Naukar Mandal general secretary A P Brahmbhatt had alleged that the Vadodara Municipal Corporation authorities were deliberately being vindictive towards the class IV staff. 8220;The authorities are misusing their powers and therefore the corporation should be superseded,8221; Brahmbhatt stated in the letter.

He claimed that the corporation had not deposited 50 per cent of the arrears in the staff8217;s provident fund accounts with retrospective effect from April 1 last year at the rate of 12 per cent interest. He had also alleged that the authorities had used up the amount in other works and the committee had misused its powers by approving them.