A REPORTER
SHILLONG: The Jaintia Hills District Unit (JHDU) of Khasi Student Union (KSU) on Saturday has said that all companies from outside the State who wishes to carry out businesses in Meghalaya must always give the first preference to the local people in appointment to various posts and also pay the salaries regularly. The students’ body further took umbrage at the manner in which a delivery agency of a prominent international company at Ladthalaboh, Jowai was carrying out its business activities depriving its local employees of their salaries besides downgrading their positions in the firm.
Several members of the students body on Saturday evening went to the shop located at Ladthalaboh, Jowai and met the manager of the company ‘Knostic Infodel’ which is a delivery agency for online orders made through Amazon.
The KSU members reportedly asked the mamager of the delivery agency as to why allegedly salaries were not released to the local employees of the shop and sought the reasons for terminating the jobs of many locals who had been working with the delivery agency since the day it was established at Jowai and instead appointed non-tribal employees in their places.
Expressing surprise at the manner in which the delivery agency has been conducting its business, N. Sutnga, assistant publicity secretary KSU-JHDU, said that when the company established its business in the area the company had appointed only locals of the area even as manager, cashier and delivery boys. “However now suddenly the company has terminated the locals and appointed non-tribals from outside the State. The local employees who had been holding the posts of Manager and Cashier have been downgraded and made delivery boys,” he alleged.
When asked by the KSU leaders on the non-payment of salary to the local employees, the manager of the company reportedly cited many “lame excuses”. Hence the Union has issued a deadline to the shop owner to pay in full the salaries of the local employees within the 17th of this month. The Manager of the shop also assured them to pay the salary within the timeline issued by the KSU.
On the issue of terminating the jobs of locals from the firm, the Union strictly said that the delivery agancy must appoint locals as had been done in the past since the time the company was established at Ladthalaboh and added that the company must comply with this demand within one week’s time.
“We will wait and watch till the deadline set by us, and if the company does not comply with what we have demanded then the Union will be forced to close down the shop as there is no point for the firm to establish their business in our land when many of our people are unemployed,” Shaniah Shkem Dkhar, assistant finance secretary of KSU-JHDU, said here on Sunday.