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Guwahati HC asks govt to explain non-payment of salaries

The Assam government will have to file a sworn affidavit before the Guwahati high court by Monday next explaining the reason for non-payment of salaries to 50 per cent of its employees. This comes after the high court, in an unprecedented move, took up the case suo motu on the basis of newspaper reports.

A state government spokesman informed that they were collecting information from all sources in this regard and the affidavit would be produced before the court definitely on Monday.

The state government, till now, has no direct explanation on the unusual delay in payment, that too before Bihu festival, the major Assamese festival. Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had promised time and again that the employees would be paid.

The employees suspended their proposed agitation following the intervention of the high court, which had constituted a two-judge bench consisting of Justice V D Gyani and Justice N C Jain to hear the matter.

Meanwhile, a high court communique, issued by the court registrar said, ''On the eve of Bihu festival the plight of government employees, particularly the middle and the lower ranks of the hierarchy, can well be gauged.'' It also observed that irregular payment had become a tradition in the recent past and asked the chief secretary to streamline the process.

UNI

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