2011-02-22 : Hamara Manch update on arbitrary firing of workers [Shri Shyam Manohar's case]

(Related pages: Arbitrary Firing of Shri Shyam Manohar)

Note on Shri Shyam Manohar

    Shri Shyam Manohar was employed as a driver / conductor with the IITK Motor Transport Section since May 2006 through the Sainik Kalyan Nigam. On Feb. 1, 2011, when he went to the MT Section as per his usual routine, he found that his name was missing from the duty chart.  When he asked about this, he was told that the contract with the Sainik Kalyan Nigam had expired and, as a result, he no longer had a job.  He had been given no prior intimation regarding the contract’s expiration date or the likelihood of his employment coming to an end.  As a result, Shri Shyam Manohar, after having served the Institute in an exemplary manner for over 4 years, is now suddenly and for no apparent reason deprived of his livelihood.

Background:  Shri Shyam Manohar served in the armed forces for 17 years before taking retirement in 2001 and settling down in his hometown of Farrukhabad.  Here he supported his family through a combination of farming and a small shop that he set up post-retirement.  In 2006, he saw a notice in the Sainik Board main office about IIT Kanpur’s Motor Transport Section inviting applications for the position of drivers. Shri Shyam Manohar personally came to IITK with his application.  When he met the MT section administrators here, he was told that he would be given the job ONLY if he brought his entire family to IIT Kanpur.  The reason behind this condition was that IIT Kanpur required drivers who were available year-round on a 24/7 basis, and could be asked to fulfil duties outside the regular hours followed by the permanent employees of the MT section. Shri Shyam Manohar agreed to this condition and was given his appointment letter only on May 11, 2006 when he moved here with his family. He was given a Type I quarter as accommodation and his children were given admission in Campus / Central School within IIT Kanpur.

    Shri Shyam Manohar worked as both driver and conductor, fulfilling regular and emergency duties of all kinds, from May 2006 to Jan. 31, 2011.  During this period, he was never given any renewal letter regarding his contractual employment.  However, his name regularly appeared on duty charts throughout this period; he was given official duty slips by the IITK MT Section, and he was paid the agreed upon salary through the Sainik Kalyan Nigam.  And then, without any warning or reason, his employment was abruptly terminated on Feb. 1, 2011.  And with this termination of his employment, he will also now be asked to vacate the Type I quarter that he was allotted.  His children, one each of whom is in Campus and Central School, while one is studying in college, will be forced to withdraw from school.  The entire family, thus, will be disrupted economically and educationally, after having been brought to IIT Kanpur on the insistence of the very MT Section that is now responsible for this disruption.

Systemic Issues at Stake:  Shri Shyam Manohar is not alone in this predicament.  In October 2010, exactly the same situation was faced by Shri Ram Prakash whose employment with the MT Section (through the same Sainik Kalyan Nigam) was terminated equally abruptly.  He was also forced to vacate his Type I quarter.  Along with Shri Shyam Manohar, several others employed through the Sainik Kalyan Nigam by the MT Section were also deprived of their jobs on Feb. 1, 2011.  Subsequently, however, all of them, except Shri Shyam Manohar and one other person (Shri. M. K. Sharma) have been re-employed through another contractor by the MT Section.  This entire situation raises several important questions:

1. Why were the services of Shri Ram Prakash, Shri Shyam Manohar, and Shri M. K. Sharma suddenly terminated by the Institute without any reason after they had served the Institute for several years?

2. The Institute proudly proclaims its respect for the armed services by providing employment to retired army personnel.  How is this respect being shown when such retired army personnels’ employment is thus terminated completely abruptly and arbitrarily?

3. People such as Shri Ram Prakash and Shri Shyam Manohar were employed by the Institute on the condition that they move their families to IIT Kanpur.  These individuals moved from well-established homes to this new place and painstakingly re-established their families here.  Now abruptly and for no reason, their jobs have been terminated, and along with that, their right to stay in the IIT Kanpur campus has been taken away from them.  Their children are at important stages of their education whose continuation is now uncertain. What will be their future?  How is the Institute justified in thus rendering the future uncertain for an entire family one of whom has served the Institute honestly for a goodly number of years?