Port Blair, Jan 16: Centre of Indian Trade Unions has demanded to extend all the service benefits applicable to the central government employees to the Faculty Members and employees working under the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS). Drawing the attention of the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration, through a letter, B. Chandrachoodan, General Secretary, CITU, A & N State Committee said that since its inception in 2014, the ANIIMS, which was stablished under the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Medical Education & Research (ANIMERS), a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 860, has been recruiting faculty members, employees and workers on contract basis without following any laid down criteria. We have noticed that transparency in recruitment and dismissal of faculty and employees is lacking and the entire decisions are taken by the authorities by throwing to wind the laid down rules and orders of the central government.
CITU brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary that in the absence of any laid down recruitment procedure, faculty members and employees are recruited on contract basis. Nearly 300 faculty members and employees are recruited for the ANIIMS and all of them have been kept denied of any kind of service benefits. These employees and doctors are entitled for the same salary and benefits as applicable to the regular employees of their categories. Leave, pay and other benefits are denied to them. The mandatory EPF is not being deducted from their salary despite the fact that the Institute started its functioning two years back.
Drawing the attention of the Chief Secfretary to the Memorandum of Association of the ANIMERS (Society), the CITU told the Administration that the Society is empowered to create posts of teaching and non-teaching posts and also to frame regulations, rules and bye-laws for the service conditions of the employees working under it. However, in the Memorandum of Association, it is clearly mentioned that for the transitory period, till such time the Society frames its own rules for service conditions, the service conditions applicable to government employees will be made applicable to the employees working under the ANIMERS (Society).
In this way, the faculty members and other employees working under the ANIIMS are governed by the Service conditions applicable to government employees and hence entitled to all the service benefits including pay and allowances, leave, etc. At present, the employees and faculty members of ANIIMS are denied of these benefits.
CITU requested the Chief Secretary to look into the issue and take immediate steps to extend all the service benefits applicable to regular government employees to the faculty members and employees working under the ANIIMs and end the exploitation of the highly educated faculty members and other employees.
