More than 2,412 engineers and staff of the Dhaka Electricity Supply Company Ltd (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), who were employed on temporary basis through different outsourcing companies, are being deprived of getting their actual salaries even after giving relentless services to the companies to ensure smooth supply and management of electricity.
Though the DESCO and DPDC authorities pay the salaries through their bank accounts, most of the engineers and employees are getting only 70 to 75 per cent of the amount received from the authorities. Rests of the amount is going to the pocket of the outsourcing companies. They do not get the entire amount of their salaries, according to a prayer recently submitted to the Chief Adviser's Office in Dhaka.
The prayers was submitted to the Chief Adviser's Office on September 3 last year with the signature of DESCO Engr Anwer Hossain, the Chief Coordinator of the DESCO Outsourcing Manpower.
Chief Coordinator Anwer Hossain, in the prayer, demanded regularization of their jobs relaxing the service entry ages considering their previous experience, introducing festival allowances, risks allowances, shift allowance and medical allowances, providing medical charges for treatments like organ damage and introducing compensation of Tk 50 lakh for deaths and Tk 20 lakh for accidents, elimination of discriminations, paying salaries directly from the employer companies, ensuring weekends and stopping unethical retrenchment.
According to the Chief Coordinator, 1,336 engineers and staff have been serving as outsourcing manpower at DESCO and 1,076 are employed at the DPDC. Some 24 outsourcing companies have been given the services to the DESCO area while 19 outsourcing companies are providing outsourcing manpower service to DPDC area.
While talking to this correspondent on Monday, Anwer Hossain said they have tried to draw attention of the government to the repression of the outsourcing companies and getting a reasonable remedy. But, no one has yet taken any steps to solve the crisis or contacted with them to discuss the issue.
