April 20, 2018: In the wake of termination notice of JICA staff, the State Government has reacted swiftly and removed GS Raju from the post of Chief Executive Officer. On Thursday, GS Raju served a notice terminating services of all of 638 contractual staff engaged in JICA and the move triggered resentment. Angshuman Dey, CCF, will take over the charge of the CEO.
GS Raju’s order has evoked criticism all over the state. Media including social media started blaming newly formed state government for snatching bread and butter instead of giving job to each family. The terminated workers gheraoed GS Raju at Hatipara today and demanded reinstatement in job..
Meanwhile, the Government acted promptly and both the Chief Minister Biplab Deb and Forest Minister Mebar Kumar Jamatia assured the terminated workers. After getting nod from the Chief Minister, Jamatia summoned GS Raju and inquired about reasons for issuing such letters without approval of the government. Government sources also said that decision of the government regarding continuing the services of 638 workers was pending and that implied it did not approve the extension of project workers.
After getting new responsibilities, Angshuman Day said, his first job would be to ensure smooth functioning of the project as per policy of the government. “I will give my best efforts to ensure that terminated workers of JICA Project get reinstated as they are good resource of the department. A lot of investment in training has been made on them. With the initiatives of these staff, relations between forest dwellers and department have improved,” said Angshuman Dey.
