Lumbini security staff stage dharna

Hyderabad: As many as 40 security personnel, who had been working as contract employees for over seven years at Lumbini Park and NTR gardens, were laid-off when they questioned the new private security agency contractor for reducing their salaries from Rs 6,500 to Rs 6,000. The security personnel, many of whom were women, have been sitting on a dharna at Lumbini Park since Wednesday demanding their reinstatement.

The security personnel alleged that there were over 75 employees until last month. However, when Sri Renuka Security Agency took up the security contract last month, the salaries were reduced by Rs 500. They said that according to the Minimum Wages Act, they were supposed to be paid Rs 8,000 per month and that EPF and ESI needed to be remitted accordingly.

They informed that they had protested against the irregularities in EPF last month, where lakhs of rupees were misappropriated by the previous contractor.

They said that the new contractor had laid-off the active participants in that movement so as to avoid any future dissent from the personnel. A majority of the personnel protested against the dismissal of the five employees and this, according to them, prompted the new contractor to fire 35 of them as well. The striking employees also said that they approached the officials of HMDA, OSD, and BPP who cold-shouldered saying that the hiring and firing decision was up to the contractor of the security agency.