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“These days, they are all saying, ‘I’m a chowkidar, I’m a chowkidar’, but we are the real chowkidars who work day and night and are still not paid salaries on time.”Ramkishan Gope
The ruling BJP might have popularised the term to a great extent but chowkidars of Jharkhand’s Ranchi say they are not being paid their salaries on time, and in some cases, they have to wait for four months or more.
In The Quint’s My Report, the chowkidars of the government have said that in addition to financial troubles due to non-payment of salaries, they are also not able to get government benefits on time.
“We do not get any government benefit on time. There are many chowkidars like me who have worked over 10 years and should get ACP (Assured Career Progression) but haven’t.”Mahendra Gupta
The chowkidars also spoke about the problems they face because of delayed salaries.
“Without the money, it is difficult to educate my son. It’s not easy to manage the household expenses too.”Mohan
Kishori Paswan, another chowkidar, said:
“We have to run the house, educate and marry our girls. We face a lot of problems because there’s no money.”
Suresh Kumar said that he was let off after almost five years of service.
“I was on duty for 5-6 years, then they let me go. Now I work in the fields trying to make ends meet. We find it hard to pay the monthly school fees for our kids.”Suresh Kumar
Ramkishan Gope said they receive the same, standard answer from officials.
“We go to the DC’s office, they tell us that they can process our salary only after receiving files from all the blocks. It’s their job to see the files are cleared. We are told to submit the required documents and we have done that. But still, we get the same answer every time.”Ramkishan Gope
Their only demand is to get their salaries on time.
“We are the real chowkidars. Please try to understand our problems. Just like others, even we should get our salary on the first of every month so that, we can look after our family and children.”Mahendra Gupta
(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)
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