Staffers continue strike at toll plaza

NASHIK: With the PNG Tollways not taking any initiative to resolve the issue of the employees of the Pimpalgaon toll plaza, the plaza continued to be closed for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday.
The protesters said that even though they were ready to work at the toll plaza and start toll collection, no senior official from the company had paid a visit to the toll plaza to initiate a dialogue with the staff.
Meanwhile, the commuters, who enjoyed yet another free pass through the Pimpalgaon toll plaza, were not complaining.
Sudhir Dangle, the president of the Pimpalgaon unit of the Maharashtra state toll workers association, said, "The entire staff at the toll plaza has been protesting. Our only source of livelihood should not be snatched from us."
The women staff at the toll plaza has also joined the agitation of the security guards as they to feel insecure about their jobs.
Meanwhile, the officials of the PNG Tollways, which has widened the Mumbai-Agra highway on the Pimpalgaon-Gonde stretch on Build-Operate-Transfer basis, said that they had no business dealing with the security guards as the latter belonged to an agency with whom they had entered into an agreement for providing security guards.
The officials said their company had decided to discontinue with the current set of security guards and replace them with those from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC). Agitated by the company’s move to deploy MSSC guards, 71 security guards stopped working from May 14 and were subsequently joined by 150 clerical staff.
Dangle said the clerical staff of the all-women toll plaza had joined the security guards as they were from the same places where they women resided and felt safe. He also added that the women had made it clear that they would not be comfortable working with the new set of security guards, who were complete strangers. Dangle further said that the women staff had no complaints against the security guards for the past two-and a-half years.
The Pimpalgaon police said that while they have not deployed a full-fledged bandobast at the toll plaza, they were monitoring the situation closely to ensure that there was no law and order situation.