Raj Thackeray's son leads march of contract workers

Thousands of contract labourers of the local civic body on Thursday took out a morch under the leadership of MNS youth leader Amit Thackeray to press for their various demands, including release of their pending wages.

The morcha, named 'Thali Naad' or the beating of plates, culminated at the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) headquarters where the contract labourers reached after covering a distance of morethan 2 km.

It was organised by the MNS and led by its youth leader Amit Thackeray, son of party chief Raj Thackeray, and the outfit's Navi Mumbai president Gajanan Kale.

A delegation led by Thackeray later met the municipal commissioner and submitted a memorandum to him listing various demands of the contract labourers, including payment of pending wages.

The civic administration gave a written assurance to the delegation that it would make the pending payment for the past 14 months, amounting to Rs 90 crore, to the contract workers within the next three weeks, the MNS said in a release.

It will benefit 6,500 contract workers who are attached to 17 departments, including electrical, water supply, conservancy and sewerage, it said.

Talking to the media, Amit Thackeray said the civic administration has given a written assurance to make the payment within the next three weeks.

If the NMMC administration fails to make the payment in the stipulated time, another agitation will be staged which will be on a bigger scale, he warned.