All work and no pay

• None of the workers at GHMC Park has received their salary for the past 18 months

• Several pleas fall on deaf ears; They are forced to take loans to make both ends meet

AS Rao Nagar: The GHMC Park here is one of the oldest parks in the area and is also well-maintained. But the authorities have failed to pay wages to the workers who have been maintaining it clean and green. They have not received salaries for more than one-and-a-half years.

There are a total of five workers responsible for the maintenance of the park, including watchman. These workers have been working in the park for more than 19 years. Repeated attempts to contact the biodiversity wing of GHMC proved futile.

The workers say that the contractor just refuses to respond to phone calls and does not visit the park. Speaking to the Hans India, Sunitha, responsible for the maintenance of sanitation in the park, said, "I have been working in this for the past nine years. We have to take different loans to survive because the authorities have not been paying our salaries. It is going to be 2 years this coming January that we have not been paid our salary."

"My husband is a private mechanic and I have been working here since 2002. Getting proper salary has always been a wish for the workers working in this park. We have gone on strike few times but the higher authorities have never considered our issue and taken any action. We have no other option than working here," said Sharda, a sweeper in the park.

Even after several representations and protests, the authorities gave nothing more than just an assurance that the workers would get a satisfactory solution. When the workers tried to talk to the supervisor, he said that a letter was sent to the higher authority and the workers might be getting their salaries by this October.

Jamuna, another sweeper of the park, said, "We tried contacting higher authorities related to the issue but they never even tried to listen to our issues. They made us go around and meet different officials, but the issue was never taken into consideration by them. The authorities are even failing to pay a salary of Rs 4,100 for new workers and Rs 7,000 for the old staff workers."