SHILLONG: Employees of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) in Meghalaya will be paid only two-month salary out of the total 31 pending.

The two-month salary of the hundreds of GHADC employees in Meghalaya will be paid within this week, reports say.

The employees have been reportedly told by the GHADC authorities in Meghalaya that the council does not have the funds to pay such a huge backlog.

“Right now, the district council does not have that kind of money to even clear 5 months of pending salaries,” CEM of GHADC in Meghalaya Albinush Marak said.

He added: “We don’t know when funds will be given to us to clear the backlog which in itself is a massive 31 months. I would be lying to you if I said we will pay 5 months when we cannot.”

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This was announced by the GHADC CEM after the representatives of the Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) met him on Monday (September 18).

“Cheques will be disbursed within the next few days for two months of pending dues,” said Albinush Marak.

It may be mentioned here that the Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) had threatened to launch a strike if the pending salaries of the GHADC employees were not paid within September 15.

A strike by the employees will effectively shut down the functioning of the GHADC in Meghalaya.

CEM of GHADC in Meghalaya Albinush Marak had earlier assured the NGEA that the pending salaries of the employees would be released by the month of September.