As many as 600 daily wage workers from Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve have decided to go on an indefinite strike to protest against the long-delayed payment of their salaries. 

“Workers here haven’t been paid for almost thirteen months now. We have been patient enough but all we have got from the authorities are hollow assurances. So now, we have launched an indefinite strike till our demands are met,” Rafiullah Khan, general secretary of the protesting Minimum Daily Wages Forest Workers Union, told Gaon Connection.

Also Read: Daily wage workers in UP’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve not paid for 11 months; warn of protest

Meanwhile, daily wage workers in the other two  tiger reserves in Uttar Pradesh — Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (Lakhimpur Kheri) and Amangarh Tiger Reserve (Bijnor) are also complaining about similar delays in payments.

The indefinite strike by the daily wage workers at the tiger reserve comes close on the heels of the commencement of counting of the big cats in the reserve for the upcoming tiger census 2021. The counting is scheduled to begin on January 1. 

However, as per a senior official in the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, the regular employees in the state will be asked to ensure that the counting is not affected.

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Measures taken to defuse the crisis

Javed Akhtar, the Field Director of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve informed Gaon Connection that the regular employees will be asked to work for extra hours in order to compensate for the strike by the daily wage workers.

“It is well within the rights of the protesting daily wage workers to suspend their work. We will have to order the regular employees to do more than eight hours of duty in order to ensure that the forest management is not disrupted,” Akhtar said.

Also, Pawan Kumar Sharma, Principal Chief Conservator, Uttar Pradesh Forest Department told Gaon Connection that efforts are being made to negotiate with the protesters. 

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“We are trying to defuse the crisis by talking to the protesters. We will ensure that the strike doesn’t affect the working of the forest administration. We will use our regular staff to conduct the tiger counting exercise for the census,” Kumar said. 

However, Rafiullah Khan, the leader of the protesting workers, told Gaon Connection that the strike will have a significant impact on the functioning of the forest administration.

“All lines of communication between the offices and the field areas will be suspended as the wireless operators will not be working. Also, regular patrolling of the forest won’t be possible. We appeal to the tourists not to come to the forest as of now as it is not fully operational which can lead to inconvenience,” Khan said.

Notably, the strike by the daily wage workers in Pilibhit coincides with the visit of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who will be addressing a public meeting in the district headquarters tomorrow.

“The government is spending money on all senseless things but they do not have money to pay daily wagers like us. I wonder what he (CM Adityanath) will get by coming here,” Rishipal Saxena, a protesting wireless operator told Gaon Connection.

With inputs from Mohit Shukla