Fazilka, Punjab: Retired staff of the Fazilka sugar mill have joined the chorus of discontent, demanding the payment of their dues that have been withheld for the past four years, reported Tribune India.
Their protest comes amidst the ongoing indefinite strike by employees of all nine cooperative sugar mills in the state.
Sunil Kumar, spokesperson for the sugar mill retired employees union, stated that retired employees had not been paid their dues for the last about four years since January 2020. There were 138 retired employees of Fazilka mill who had not been paid the dues, of which 20 who got superannuation in the last about 4 months had not been paid even a single penny by the mill authorities. The remaining 118 employees had been paid only 52 per cent of their dues.
As per news report, General Manager of the mill, Sukhdeep Singh Kairon, acknowledged the outstanding dues of Rs 8 crore and assured that payment will be made as soon as the government releases the funds.
Meanwhile, the strike by regular mill employees has entered its sixth day, with over 2,500 workers demanding the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, regularization of temporary employees, and permanent jobs for the kin of employees who died during service.
