TIRUNELVELI: Domestic breeding checkers (DBCs) of Tirunelveli corporation staged a protest in front of the corporation office here on Monday, demanding the disbursal of pending wages for 16 days and a wage hike as per the district collector's recent orders. They also submitted a petition with the corporation administration following the protest, sources said.
According to the petition, as many as 560 DBCs have been working in the corporation for the past 10 years. "We remove stagnant water and other mosquito breeding sources, collect corporation taxes, take care of patients in urban health centres, and communicate the corporation's decisions to the residents," they said.
"However, the corporation adminstration has refused to pay 16 days' wage to 160 DBCs, despite them having worked on the said days. The workers' attendance was recorded properly in the registry and biometric attendance system, and hence the denial of salary is against the law," the petition read.
They further alleged that the collector had ordered to pay `480 as daily wage to the DBCs from April 1 onwards, however, the corporation administration is yet to implement the same. "The hike should be implemented as soon as possible," they said. It may be noted that the DBCs are currently receiving a wage of Rs 411 per day.