A group of 34 members of the workers’ union of the BSNL in North Dinajpur, in association with the Indian…
A group of 34 members of the workers’ union of the BSNL in North Dinajpur, in association with the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, on Monday demonstrated in front of the office of the Raiganj Telecom District Manager at Karnajora with the body of Kajal Sarkar, 34, a casual worker, who died for want of medical treatment for his liver disease.
The irate group also ransacked the office of the District Manager, demanding compensation for the family of the deceased. They alleged that the authorities terminated the casual workers and stopped paying them from November 2016, and are also not assigning any work to them of late. “Around 150 workers had been serving the BSNL in the district for the past 15 years, when we were terminated two years ago. Kajal Sarkar was one of us. Kajal has a wife and a child.
He was recently diagnosed with a serious liver disease and had no money to foot his medical bills. He died without treatment. His family is left with no income source now. We demand BSNL provide compensation to the family,” the Secretary of the Raiganj Shilpa Sahayak Union of the BSNL, Sushanta Bhadra, said. “We also demand they give us work soon and pay for it. We will otherwise be forced to start a bigger movement,” he added. The protesting group later blocked National Highway- 34 at Siliguri More in Raiganj for about an hour.
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The blockade was withdrawn after the Deputy Magistrate reached the spot and assured the workers that the administration would look into their problems and take their grievances to the authorities concerned. The President of the North Dinajpur INTTUC, Arindum Sarkar, alleged BSNL officials have deprived their workers. “We urge the officials to provide adequate compensation to the family. We demand officials of the district administration to take serious steps against officials who are responsible for the death of the worker,” he said.
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