JOIN USWorkers on Ejipura flyover project not paid wages 'for several months'
For labourers who were part of the team building the 2.5-kilometre flyover in Ejipura, survival has become a question as the contractor Simplex Infrastructures Ltd failed to pay salaries for several months.
Months before the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) scrapped the contract awarded to Simplex, the firm allegedly stopped paying salaries to the workers. Some of them returned to their hometowns, while a few have stayed back hoping to get paid.
The issue came to light after the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) filed a complaint with the labour department and the BBMP.
According to the trade body, there are at least six workers who have not been paid for the last five to seven months.
Among them, Nitai Ghosh, Mahadeb Kirtania, and Debjyoti Maiti are still in Bengaluru as the firm owes them anywhere between Rs 1.05 lakh to Rs 1.75 lakh.
Ghosh, a plant operator, said he stayed back as the firm had promised to clear the arrears last December. “Some of them left as the company owed them very little. I have been working for the company for several years and cannot afford to lose all the money I earned,” he said.
He was first working for the metro project on Bannerghatta Road. After the metro terminated the contract, he was shifted to the casting yard of the Ejipura flyover.
As per the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the principal employer is liable to pay wages in full or the unpaid balance in case the contractor fails to pay wages within the prescribed period or makes short payment.
“It is shocking that the workers have still not been paid the wages for so many months. The BBMP is required to act as a model employer, and ensure the payment of wages to the workers concerned. We seek that immediate steps be taken by the BBMP to ensure the immediate payment of wages to them along with interest on the same for the delayed payment,” said AICCTU’s Avani Chokshi.
She also demanded prosecution against Simplex for offences under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.
BBMP officials, for their part, have promised to take action based on the complaint.
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