Delhi Waqf Board employees threaten to go on indefinite strike over unpaid salaries

The employees of Delhi Waqf Board on Tuesday threatened to go on an indefinite strike from November 5 over pending salary dues.

In a letter submitted to members of the Board, the employees stated that an assurance was given to solve the impasse but no salaries were paid although the deadline of November 4 given by them was close.

"No solution of pending salaries has been found by the members or chief executive officer of the Board so far. If there is no solution of pending salaries and other issues by the evening of November 4, all the employees will go on an indefinite strike from November 5," the letter read.

No reaction was immediately available from the Delhi government on the issue.

"The contract based employees have not received wages since February and the permanent ones were last paid salaries in April. We have been facing untold financial hardships and finding it difficult to meet our daily expenses," an employee of Delhi Waqf Board said.

The financial transactions of the Board are conducted through an account jointly operated by its chairman, member and a government official, according to sources.

The seven-member Board has remained headless after Okhla MLA and its then chairman Amantullah Khan completed his term as a member with the Delhi Assembly election in February.

Khan has again been elected as a member of the Board.

A meeting of the Delhi Waqf Board last month to elect the new chairman was deferred to November 19 following a case in the Delhi High Court.