ARTFED employees demand release of pending salary

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Employees of the Assam Apex Weavers and Artisans Cooperative Federation Ltd. (ARTFED) head office have not received their salary for the past 10 months while the employees of the various branch offices of ARTFED have not received their salaries for some years now. To demand release of their pending salary, along with other demands, ARTFED employees have launched a series of agitation programmes. As part of the agitation programme, the employees on Tuesday pasted posters on the walls of all branch offices.

ARTFED formed by reorganizing the Assam Apex Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd. with the objective of organizing the handloom weaving and other cottage industries in the State on co-operative basis; undertaking spinning, weaving and other allied activities either directly or on behalf of the affiliated societies; and organizing and participating in fairs, exhibitions, displays etc. on handloom, power loom and cottage industries products.

ARTFED Karmachari Santha general secretary Dhiren Kumar Nath said that ARTFED had now lost its purpose. There are a total of 43 branches in Assam and one branch each in New Delhi and Kolkata. Three branches outside Assam have been closed down – Kanpur, Jaipur and Indore. In addition, there are 32 yarn banks and three production units. "All these are now defunct," said Nath.

"ARTFED has not been able to sell the products of weavers. It has not been able to produce gamusas or motivate local weavers to make gamusas," he added.

After today's wall postering programme, the agitating employees will wear black badges as a mark of protest on April 7, observe pen-down strike on April 8, stage dharna in the head office on April 11 and April 12, stage hunger strike on April 18 and April 19 and hold a discussion on the future of ARTFED and its employees on April 20.

Their demands include release of pending salary, implementation of the decisions taken during a meeting of the State Government and the ARTFED Karmachari Santha, appointment of a permanent managing director (MD), modernization of the ARTFED sale centres, protection and preservation of ARTFED property and government giving salary to those employees who are engaged for implementation of government schemes, among others.

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