Chennai: Upset over the non-confirmation of their employment as bomb technicians, a group of explosive experts in the state bomb detection and disposal squad has written to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister saying that they have “become suicidal because of the dejected life they are leading”.
All of them had worked in defence earlier. In the latest petition sent to the Chief Minister and signed by 29 bomb technicians with experience ranging from 7 years to 2 years, BDDS members claim that similar people recruited between 1991 and 2008 were confirmed by the government, but not those recruited after the year 2008.
“We are now in the middle age and we have reached a state where we are in suicidal state of mind. At a time when incidents of explosions are on the high in the country, we are risking our life and working. We are not in our twenties to keep on waiting. We are working for a mere contract salary with no incentives from the government,” the letter from the BDS squad read.
It further notes that they had approached higher ups at least 30 times without getting a proper reply. The file was shuttled between departments at least 13 times, marked as query. “Is this the way of treating us, who work 24x7 for the Chief Minister of the state?” the BDDS squad asked in the letter.
They further noted that no state, except TN, had the BDDS squad as temporary employees. BDDS work areas are mainly CM’s house, CM’s route and secretariat apart from any other bomb threat locations on need basis.
“We are not sure if this letter reaches you or not. While TN is shining, our life is heading nowhere,” the letter further said. BDDS was formed in the state in 1991 after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a bomb blast in Sriperumpudur.
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