The Chandigarh Nation Delta company cut the monthly salary of these guards shortly after securing the contract from the J&K Bank.
Bank security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir have been put in an unpleasant situation after a private security company handed them substantial pay cuts after securing a contract with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
Protests held in Jammu and Srinagar cities
On Monday, two massive protest demonstrations were held by the aggrieved security guards against ‘Chandigarh Nation Delta’ in Srinagar and Jammu cities of the union territory.
Hundreds of security guards from various areas of Kashmir gathered at Press Enclave Srinagar to protest for the ‘unjust’ pay cut amid the ‘skyrocketing’ inflation. A similar protest was held in Jammu outside the J&K Bank zonal headquarters at Bahu Plaza.
The J&K Bank guards were comparatively well-paid earlier
The protesting guards said that they had been working as bank and ATM guards for a private security company in the valley, called “Para Green” for numerous years, which paid them well, comparatively.
The Chandigarh-based Delta company would pay skilled guards Rs 9,000 and unskilled guards Rs 5,500, despite being paid in advance by J&K Bank, as claimed by the protesting security guards.
Previously, the Para Green firm paid skilled (gunmen) Rs 11,250 per month and the unskilled (helpers) would receive Rs 7,500 per month.
Guards being charged against uniform, miscellaneous items
The Delta company, just after receiving the contract from the J&K Bank, reduced the monthly salary of these guards. What was akin to rubbing salt to their wounds, the company also asked them to pay Rs 15,000 out of their own pockets for their uniforms and other related items.
“We have no option but to protest in order to express our discontent with the pay cut at a time when the prices of essential commodities, such as kitchen supplies, have soared, making the life of the average man difficult,” says Ghulam Qadir, an ATM guard.
The allegation of exploitation
The bank guards said that instead of investing a large percentage of the money on hapless security guards, Delta intends to exploit them and pocket the majority of the money for itself.
This ‘injustice’ is happening amid ‘skyrocketing’ inflation, as per a bank guard, even when J&K Bank pays this private security company Rs 18,000 for each security guard hired in its ATMs or Bank branches.
The aggrieved bank guards have urged J&K Bank officials to take up the matter with the Nation Delta as soon as possible. They also demanded that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha needs to intervene to guarantee that they are paid properly.
It is pertinent to mention here that these private security guards protect ATMs, cash trucks, and bank branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which has been outsourcing the same over the years.