GRC staff to get salaries by July 31

NEW DELHI: Community workers and staff of the Delhi government's 130 Gender Resource Centres on Friday met deputy CM Manish Sisodia demanding that their salaries pending for the past seven months be released. Sisodia assured them that the centres would not be shut down and the financial problem would be resolved soon. The workers were told their salaries would be released by July 31.
Nearly 3,000 workers who turned up at Sisodia's residence on Mathura Road, refused to leave without an assurance from him that the programme they are associated with would not be wrapped up and that their salaries would be released at the earliest. Sisodia's staff allowed two representatives to his office at the Delhi secretariat.
The grievances of the GRC functionaries and workers were addressed to both CM Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia.
"The deputy CM agreed to meet a delegation of five and give a written commitment on it. The deputy chief minister assured the delegation that all the payments that are pending will be released and settled by July 31, 2015," a statement from the GRC representatives said.
Between 2008 and 2014, the 130 Gender Resource Centres, set up across 1,200 clusters, had surveyed over 12 lakh households and identified over nine lakh persons as both occupationally and socially vulnerable. During this period, they reached out to over 14 lakh people with information on schemes and programmes and set up 7,560 health clinics and 1,789 health camps, which had benefitted over 13 lakh people.
Dr Gyanendra Kumar, chief functionary, SSK, Naraina, said "We are extremely discouraged by the uncertainties we are facing, including not getting the grant-in-aid from the government since January. And because of this, the teams have not been paid their salary resulting in overall demoralization in the entire programme."