VELLORE: While they were nurturing hopes of getting the job regularised, the Transport department packed off the programmers, many of whom had put in service of more than a decade.
As many as 151 programmers, employed with the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) across Tamil Nadu and 4 system analysts and 2 programmers engaged with the Transport Commissioner's office in Chennai were shown the door two months ago.
“Our services were terminated at the end of December last year. Most of us have worked for more than ten years. But now we are rendered jobless,” rued a programmer who worked in Vellore.
Entrusted with the job of operating the Vahansarathi application, which was maintained by a private firm on contract, these programmers were discharging several duties in the RTOs.
“We were literally squeezed with the work. We did not mind spending long hours at the office, yet we were thrown out,” another programmer sacked in Chennai said.
They were paid a monthly salary of Rs. 4500 while the system analysts employed at Transport Commissioner's office were paid Rs. 8500 per month. With the paltry amount, they had been struggling to make both ends meet. Now, their condition has become worse after losing the job.
This bunch of computer professionals, having completed graduation and post-graduation in computer applications, had their fortune dwindling throughout their career.
On certain occasions, steps were taken to regularise their jobs but the opportunity slipped away or snatched away. The dream of getting regularised did not come true due to various factors, a particularly subjective approach of certain top officials.
“Once, it was on the verge of being announced in the Assembly but a senior officer struck down it at the last minute leaving us in tears,” a sacked system analyst recalled.