Team Herald
PONDA: PWD Labour Society Employees from various parts of Goa, who have been working without any status for the past eight years in various work divisions of PWD, gathered at Shivaji Fort Farmagudi on occasion of Republic Day and protested against the government for not fulfilling their long pending demand to give them temporary status.
They also demanded that the pay scale wise designation be given to them so that their salaries are hiked.
The workers pointed out that out of the 465 workers, 207 of them have crossed the age of 40 years and are worried about their future.
They also lamented that they are getting a salary of Rs 10,000 and that most of it gets wasted on transport. They also called it a tragedy that they get an increment of only Rs six per year in their salaries.
They pointed out that eight years have passed since they began demanding for temporary status, in the absence of which, they have been getting poor salaries.
“Since the past two years, we have been meeting the Chief Minister and PWD Minister, who have kept on promising to settle our issues. But now, the government is starting the process of filling up 10,000 job vacancies and we should be qualified as we are skilled, qualified and experienced,” the group added.
On this they explained that 265 of them are under the category of skilled workers, 152 under unskilled workers and 48 under semi-skilled workers.
The workers further claimed that they are struggling to feed their children with such a meager salary and that the government merely gives them promises every time but never fulfills the same.
They added that they are not getting bonuses, DA or other benefits.
