Gujarat: Alleging harassment by MD, MGVCL staff take mass leave

The employees are protesting over 700 notices sent to them concerning various issues in the last two months. According to the union, the two chief engineers of MGVCL have also joined the protest in support.

The agitation of the employees is being lead by Girish Joshi, general secretary of Akhil Guj-arat Vidhyut Kamdaar Sangh, member of the Association of Chief Engineers and the Association of Supervisory staff of MGVCL.

Joshi said, “We are exasperated with the harassment being meted out to all employees, including the engineering staff as well as field Class-III employees, because of the high-handed attitude of the managing director, Tushar Bhatt. He has served over 700 notices to staff in the last two months. Some of them are for non-payment of dues by consumers from as far back as 1960, where officers have been asked to explain why the amount has not been recovered. They have served notices of different outstanding amounts to officers at all levels. It means that they are not even aware what the actual outstanding bills are.”

Joshi added that several Class-III officers who are involved in maintenance activities on the field have been fined upto Rs 1,000 for not using safety gear.

“This, after it has been taken on record, in the minutes of a committee meeting held last year, that most of the safety equipment has not even been procured and handed over to the employees. Safety shoes, for instance, are the most important for ensuring the absorption of shock. Most of these Class-III employees rush to the site of fault even at unearthly hours. It is unfair and mental harassment to fine them for not using what has not been procured,” said Joshi.

The president of the MGVCL union is BJP MLA Ketan Inamdar from Savli assembly constituency, who joined the employees in their meeting with Patel and Jadeja on Tuesday.

When contacted, Tushar Bhatt refused to comment on the allegations and said that the MGVCL has a contingency plan in place to attend to emergency calls from consumers on Wednesday.