Hamirpur watchman not paid for 13 years

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, March 21

Ranjeet Singh, a watchman at the field revenue office, Patwar Circle, at Sujanpur in the district, has been running form pillar to post to get minimum wages for his service, but no political leader or administration official has been able to help him even after 13 years of service.

A resident of Ward 5 in the Sujanpur Nagar Panchayat, he has been struggling hard to make ends meet. Singh, who belongs to an SC community, told The Tribune said he had been engaged by the local revenue authorities with assurance that his candidature would be preferred as and when a post of chowkidar was created.

Showing his records, he said he had started working on June 7, 2011, and certificates of his services were also issued to him from time to time, but he was never paid wages for his services.

He added that he was 33 years old when he started working and now he had turned 45 and was without wages. He said he had met several MLAs, ministers and administration officers but they only gave assurances and no relief.

He added that he had also appealed at state tribunal in 2017. The tribunal ordered the maintenance of status quo. That only helped in continuation of his service but the wages were yet to be fixed.

OP Gupta, president of Senior Citizen Council, said the council had submitted a fresh plea to the DC here. He added that the DC had assured to expedite the matter and relief would be accorded under rules. He said that Ranjeet was the only earning member of his family and all help would be provided to him.