Horticulture dept staff hands over memorandum to minister seeking regularization of employment

Udhagamandalam: A memorandum by the Nilgiris district farm labourers attached to the horticulture department was handed over to Tamil Nadu Agriculture minister R Duraikannu seeking regularisation of their employment in the department on a par with government employees.
Around 350 labourers, with over 25 years of service and working in the government gardens and farms in the Nilgiris, fall under special pay category and are not entitled to benefits given to government employees.They receive a maximum pay of Rs.9,000 after putting in over 25 years of service.
The memorandum stated that as per government order (GO) no. 22/2006, temporary employees in the government departments, who had put in over 10 years of service at that time, were regularised as permanent government employees and posted depending on their education qualification. But the temporary labours in the horticulture department were regularised as per GO 494/2007 under special pay category which did not attract any govermnet benefits like PF, public holidays or promotion.
"Under special pay, we do not get any benefits like public holidays or increment or promotions. We urge the government to sort out the parity as our regularisation was done under different GOs. For instance, if we take leave for a day, it is considered as loss of pay," said Raghu, president of Tamil Nadu Government Office Assistant and Basic Servants Association, under whose banner the memorandum was handed over to the minister. He said, "We initiated several representations to the government in the past but in vain. Hence, we handed over the memorandum directly to the minister seeking regular pay and benefits."
The memorandum sought regular pay at par with government staff to the employees of horticulture department who fall under special pay category. They also demanded postings based on education qualification, PF deduction from their salary.
The farm labourers also seek 'contribution to pension scheme' system, besides family welfare fund. "We also want our retirement age to be increased from 58 to 60 years on a par with the government employees," said Raghu. With over 25 years of service, there are about 350 farm labourers in the Nilgiri district who are attached to the horticulture department. "In total, there are around 900 employees in the department falling under the special pay category across the state," added Raghu.
The employees are solely responsible for the seeding and planting operations in the government gardens and farms.