Women’s welfare officers without pay for 8 months
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Chennai:05.10.2019
For the last eight to nine months, women protection officers and their junior assistants have not received salaries due to an oversight in paperwork. They include a total of 64 staff members, a woman officer and one junior assistant for each of the 32 districts, appointed under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.
An official source said the state social welfare department had failed to include their salary component in the annual budget allocation report for the fiscal year 2019-2020 submitted to the government. The monthly salary of the protection officer is ₹30,000 and that of the junior assistant is ₹12,000. Senior officials made several pleas to set right the anomaly. But, all the 64, hired on contractual basis, have gone without pay from February 2019.
When contacted, Chennai district social welfare officer Sandiya Maheshwari denied such a complaint. Commissioner of social welfare department T Abraham, however, said, “A few of the protection officers represented the issue to me after I assumed charge (two months ago). They will receive their salaries with arrears within two weeks. An order will be passed soon,” he said.
Abraham attributed it to a lack of communication between the finance and social welfare departments. As per the provision of the act that came into effect in 2006, the posts of protection officer and a junior assistant were created in the year 2008 after a directive from the Centre.
While ₹15,000 was fixed as monthly pay for the protection officers, it was ₹6,000 for the junior assistant. The salaries were doubled in November 2017. They, however, stopped getting their salaries from February 2019.
“We have been spending from our pockets. Since we are appointed on contract basis, many of us are scared to raise the issue as the officials indicated that we will be sacked,” said an officer, seeking anonymity.
The protection officers are entrusted with the task of assisting the victims of domestic violence, right from receiving complaints to executing the orders of the court besides ensuring they receive compensation. They receive 30 to 50 cases a month.
A source said the state social welfare department had failed to include their salary component in the annual budget allocation report for 2019-2020
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Chennai:05.10.2019
For the last eight to nine months, women protection officers and their junior assistants have not received salaries due to an oversight in paperwork. They include a total of 64 staff members, a woman officer and one junior assistant for each of the 32 districts, appointed under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.
An official source said the state social welfare department had failed to include their salary component in the annual budget allocation report for the fiscal year 2019-2020 submitted to the government. The monthly salary of the protection officer is ₹30,000 and that of the junior assistant is ₹12,000. Senior officials made several pleas to set right the anomaly. But, all the 64, hired on contractual basis, have gone without pay from February 2019.
When contacted, Chennai district social welfare officer Sandiya Maheshwari denied such a complaint. Commissioner of social welfare department T Abraham, however, said, “A few of the protection officers represented the issue to me after I assumed charge (two months ago). They will receive their salaries with arrears within two weeks. An order will be passed soon,” he said.
Abraham attributed it to a lack of communication between the finance and social welfare departments. As per the provision of the act that came into effect in 2006, the posts of protection officer and a junior assistant were created in the year 2008 after a directive from the Centre.
While ₹15,000 was fixed as monthly pay for the protection officers, it was ₹6,000 for the junior assistant. The salaries were doubled in November 2017. They, however, stopped getting their salaries from February 2019.
“We have been spending from our pockets. Since we are appointed on contract basis, many of us are scared to raise the issue as the officials indicated that we will be sacked,” said an officer, seeking anonymity.
The protection officers are entrusted with the task of assisting the victims of domestic violence, right from receiving complaints to executing the orders of the court besides ensuring they receive compensation. They receive 30 to 50 cases a month.
A source said the state social welfare department had failed to include their salary component in the annual budget allocation report for 2019-2020
No comments:
Post a Comment