UPNL staff block traffic, demand regular jobs

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 29

Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL) employees held a protest rally and blocked traffic at Dilaram Bazaar and New Road here today. The protesters condemned the baton-charge on UPNLemployees, 24 of whom were injured.

The agitating employees under the banner of the UPNL Karamchari Mahasangh gathered at the Raipur bus stand. They demanded that the Congress-led state government should draft a blueprint to regularise the services of contractual employees deployed in different government departments in the state.

They held a protest rally up to the Chief Minister’s residence and raised slogans against the government. They held a demonstration at Dilaram Bazaar, resulting in a traffic jam the on Rajpur Road.

The police tried to pacify the protesters but they continued with the protest. However, they called off their protest at Dilaram Bazaar after nearly an hour. They marched in a rally up to Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s house. The police had placed barricades and stopped them near the Hathibarkala police post.

The protesters sat on a dharna on New Road, again resulting in a traffic jam. The policemen and protesters had a verbal spat as the latter refused to call off their protest. The protesters lamented that they had submitted memorandums of demands to the government many times, but to no avail.

Addressing protesters, Bhawesh Jagudi, state president, UPNL Karamchari Mahasangh, said former Soldiers’ Welfare Minister Harak Singh Rawat had given false assurance to them that their demands would be fulfilled soon. He lamented that the association’s demands had been pending for the last two years.

Medical college contractual staff join protest

Around 271 contractual employees of Government Doon Medical College joined the stir underway in the hospital since yesterday. Technicians, safai karamcharis and other staff hired through UPNL are already on strike.

The contractual employees comprising dieticians, nurses and technicians were first promised absorption in the medical college from the Doon Hospital.

But the decision was revised and these employees were asked to register with the UPNL.

At the same time, the authorities of Doon Medical College also started the hiring process and appointed staff in the place of these employees, angering them.

The Teachers’ Association, PMHS and other state organisations have also lent their support to the agitation.

Meanwhile, Class IV employees of the state health services have also threatened to go on an indefinite stir from July 8, if their demands pertaining to promotions were not met.

State president MS Negi said the employees too would go on a state-wide strike if their demands were not met. The billing system today was resumed at Government Doon Medical College.