Employees of Adilabad Municipal Council have put on hold their plan to strike work after Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna convened a meeting of councillors owing allegiance to him and officials who alleged harassment on the part of the former. The Minister is understood to have taken umbrage following demolition of an illegal structure in ward number 34 for which he had laid foundation stone about a year back.
The demolition of the structure, which was categorised as illegal as it was encroaching the road in Tatipally locality, came after the local councillor alleged corrupt practices against the town planning officials. This also brought the 200 employees including contract staff on one platform as they raised objection against the harassment.
It is a known fact that the council is divided into two groups with one of it owing allegiance to Mr. Ramanna and the other to chairperson Rangineni Manisha. Work in the Municipality is severely affected as both groups frequently find themselves at loggerheads with the one siding with Ms. Manisha alleging interference on the part of the group of the Minister.
In the current instance, the tiff between the councillor of the ward and officials of the town planning department led to employees taking a strong stance. They represented the matter to Collector Buddha Prakash M. Jyothi.
The representation was followed with demolition of the structure after which the councillor lodged a complaint against Town Planning Officer Sumalatha. The employees met Mr. Ramanna on January 28 evening following which he agreed to intervene and settle the issue.
The employees met on Sunday morning and once again discussed the issue at hand. This time however, the contract staff remained absent which put the employees on back foot.
Meanwhile, the Minister convened a meeting with the staff representatives and the councillors involved in the issue in the evening on Sunday. He is reported to have assured them of finding a way out of the case.
