Nashik: Scores of contractual employees of the tribal development department from various parts of North Maharashtra refused all attempts by senior officials of the department to broker a deal regarding their demands.The employees vowed to march towards the Nashik commissionerate and even threatened self-immolation if there demands were not met.The agitators from all castes and religions, employed in the various Ashramshalas that were started in Nandurbar and Dhule districts, covered a respective distances of 220 km and 120 km on foot. They demanded that the department gives them benefit of service and adjust them in the on-going recruitment process.The Birhad Morcha (family march) heading towards Nashik had reached Pimpalgaon village in Niphad taluka, 35 km away from the city, on Mumbai-Agra highway when the senior officers at the tribal development commissionerate attempted to talk and pacify them.“We are steadfast on our demands. The officers from commissionerate met us on our way and tried to persuade us by asking a few of us to come to Nashik and hold a dialogue with the administration. We clarified that we will talk only with the commissioner in front of all the agitators,” Kamlakar Patil, secretary, association of class-III and IV contractual employees said.All of us have served the department for 7-20 years. The government had promised to make us permanent employees. As the department is holding a recruitment drive, we are only asking for our rights,” said another agitator, who was marching along with the morcha.“The government had said that contractual employees would be given a set of marks while conducting the recruitment drive in which the freshers would have to appear for the tests. But, it appears that the marks given to the contractual employees are unfair and being purposely avoided,” Harish Jadhav, another agitator said.In the special recruitment drive, all the contractual employees should be absorbed first, they demanded, adding that only after that direct recruitment should be carried out. The association is also demanding a job security for the contractual employees and implementation of the Supreme Court decision on ‘Equal Work Equal Pay’.The agitators have made it clear that the administration should talk and resolve the issues in the given framework. “If the authorities fail in keeping their promise, we shall be forced to attempt self-immolation,” Kamlakar said.

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