Employees of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), backed by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), on Thursday warned of an intensified agitation and threatened to suspend services if their August salary is not released immediately.
The employees said they have been waiting for their salary for one month and 24 days, and warned that they may even stop VIP and hospitality services during the proposed visit of the President of India to Himachal Pradesh on October 6 if the government and HPTDC management fail to resolve the issue. BMS Himachal Pradesh president Madan Lal, while addressing a press conference in Shimla, said “The salary for August has not been released even after one month and 24 days. Keeping the coming tourist season in mind, we can take a decision to suspend services at our 56 hotels and other HPTDC establishments, including Delhi Bhawan, Bhawan Sadan Chandigarh and Bhawan Shimla, for a day.”
Because of the delay in salary payment, bMS Himachal Pradesh vice-president Dinesh Sharma said around 1,000 regular employees and nearly 550 other workers associated with HPTDC were facing difficulties.
The employees who work day and night to provide hospitality and services are being made to wait for their basic wages,” Lal said. Lal said the BMS would take the issue across the state and warned that employees would oppose the entry of ministers, officials or other VIPs into HPTDC hotels if their salary-related demands were not addressed. Raj Kumar Sharma, general secretary HPTDC employees union, said “We may even have to think about stopping services during the visit of the honourable President.
