TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Claiming that the striking workers have been provoked to strike work by their union leaders by providing them misleading information, the BJP on Thursday warned that the union leaders would be responsible for any consequences arising out of the ‘fast unto death’ strike called by employees recruited under Goa Employment and Recruitment Society (GERS).
“Union leader Ajitsingh Rane would be held responsible and not the government for the consequences arising out of fast unto death strike,” BJP spokesperson Pramod Sawant told media persons. He advised striking workers not to get influenced by elements who are provoking them to take to the streets over petty issues and instead speak to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and settle the issue.
After an 11-day long indefinite hunger strike by over 1000 workers, nine workers employed as security personnel by GERS have undertaken a fast unto death since Wednesday.
Sawant, who is member of Goa Human Resource Development Corporation (GHRDC), said that GERS is not a government body, but a private society formed by the then BJP government in 2001. He also said that prior to going on strike, no notice was served on government and GERS and hence it automatically becomes an illegal strike.
The BJP leader said that the chief minister has already agreed to enroll them in the government service through GHRDC and had requested them to withdraw their strike. “We have already released advertisements for recruitments under human resource corporation. Nearly 600 vacancies were advertised. However, only 270 people applied,” he said, adding that all these people had been recruited and were undergoing training.
Government, in the past had announced that it would recruit over 2000 workers under GHRDC, but so far only around 900 vacancies have been advertised. Rane has demanded a written assurance from the government that all 2000 workers will be given regularized appointment.
Contrary to the workers claim that they have been employed for the past ten to 12 years, Sawant said that of the total 1252 workers, only 144 workers are employed for past five years, while another 559 are in service between 2 and 4 years and another 549 had completed one year.
Slamming the Congress party for their charges against the government, Sawant said that it was the then Congress government in 2006, which through an order directed all government departments to scrap the contract signed with the GERS employees and accordingly all 1300 workers were displaced from their services. It was BJP government in 2012 that re-recruited the workers, he claimed.
