GREF can maintain NH 10 better, says Tara Sundas

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, AUGUST 29, 2024 : The GREF Labor Union has called for the reinstatement of the responsibility of the General Reserve Engineering Force for National Highway-10. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Union President Tara Sundas said if GREF was reinstated, the construction work would be of higher quality and 1,200 local workers would regain employment.

Sundas explained that since 2016, when GREF had lost the contract for NH-10, the Public Works Department had been outsourcing labour from the plains and Nepal, leaving many union workers unemployed. The union expressed dissatisfaction with PWD's approach and demanded that GREF be given back the responsibility to ensure that local labourers had access to jobs.

Since 2016, the primary demand of the Union has been that even if PWD takes over the highway project, union workers should still be employed; but this has not yet been realized. Sundas said: "We have raised this issue with several high-ranking officials, including the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the PWD minister, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung, former Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chettri, Binay Tamang, and former Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling. However, despite numerous efforts, our demands have not been met."

Sundas rued that the Union had not achieved the expected results from discussions with various leaders to secure employment for local workers. He emphasized that the Union continued to fight for the job security of local laborers.

Sundas also criticized the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited for substandard work on NH-10. "There is talk of NHIDCL being given responsibility for the highway. But even in the past, when NHIDCL had taken charge, it had failed to maintain quality standards. Ultimately, the work had to be handed back to the PWD. We want GREF to resume control of NH-10, which would ensure not only better construction but also employment for 1,200 local workers."

He also highlighted the deteriorating situation of the labourers, noting: "Initially, workers were earning just Rs 60 per day when GREF had started, but by the time GREF left NH-10, wages had risen to Rs 9,000. The 1,200 workers were engaged from Sevoke to Rangpo, but since GREF's departure, they have been left unemployed and struggling."