DAM staff await salaries for 5 months

Hyderabad: In what is reflective of the government's lackadaisical approach during World Heritage Week, the housekeeping staff entrusted with keeping the Qutub Shahi Tombs complex spick and span, has not been paid their wages for the past five months.
According to E Kantharaj, one of the staff employed by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, all pleas for speedy disbursal of salaries have fallen on deaf ears.
"We are around 20 people here. The payment of salaries is long pending. How can we work without pay?" he lamented.
Sources said that after an inspection last week by officials of the DAM they were suggested to write to department director Sunita M Bhagwat explaining to her their dire circumstances and to request that the payment be made. However, the sources said that they are not hopeful of this to work.
"We tried a similar approach previously. We were not encouraged to stay there. We were given official identification cards but of what use are these cards when we have no money," a source said.
The situation is so bad that some of the staff have had to move to smaller accommodations as they were unable to pay rents, he added.