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Our Infrastructure Bureau
Mumbai, Oct 3: More than three years of remaining jobless and after approaching various ministries for help, over forty employees attached to the former Haj Pilgrim service of the Mogul Lines Ltd (MLL) are still running pillar to post to get their redundancy compensation.
The 49 employees (of which four have retired and three have passed away) have been seeking redundancy compensation of Rs 44 lakh from the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), but in vain.
As required under the provision of Rule 84(1) of the Indian Pilgrim Ships Rules, 1933, Muslim messing staff was required to be employed on the passenger ships deployed for Haj service.
The staff was recruited from serving foreign-going seamen who were in possession of continuous discharge certificate (CDC) and had valid registration with the Seamen's Employment Office (SEO), Mumbai.
In order to ensure that these seamen are available for Haj service every year, they were asked to cancel their registrations maintained by the Mogul Lines Ltd (MLL -which was later merged with the Shipping Corporation of India) with a guarantee of employment of six months per year.
However, in 1995 it was decided by the government that Haj pilgrims will travel by air instead of sea. Consequently, the Haj service operated by SCI became non-operational.
Since the pilgrim messing staff (PMS) had cancelled their registrations with SEO, the 80 PMS could not seek employment in any other Indian Shipping company and remain unemployed.
Meanwhile, after the merger of the MLL with SCI, the latter has taken over all the assets and liabilties including MLL roster seamen service on Haj services.
The PMS requested the SCI to continue their employment on board of SCI's foreign-going ships or pay compensation in lieu thereof.
However, SCI refused to induct the 80 PMS in its roster as the company already had adequate number of categories similar to PMS on their roster.According to SCI, these staff are not SCI employees and were engaged with the specific approval of government(ministry of external affairs) which used to pay for all operational expenses including losses, if any.
Therefore, the responsibility of re-habilitation of these surplus staff lies with the government.
Last year, the matter was examined by the directorate general of shipping with SCI where SCI expressed its willingness to induct 31 out of 80 PMS who were of below 45 years only after they are duly registered by the SEO, Mumbai.
As regards the remaining 49 PMS, who are over 45 years, SCI wants to declare them redundant after paying compensation on similar terms as applicable to regular foreign going seamen and as per the provisions of the National Maritime Board Agreement, 1994 between PMS and the SCI.
While, SCI has taken the 31 pilgrim messing staff who are below 45 years after they procured requisite registration books from the SEO, the payment to remaining redundant staff is hanging fire.
"As per the prevailing practice, the company used to settle wages and other benefits due to pilgrim messingstaff first and then these were reimbursed by the government," sources said.
According to them, SCI is now hesitating to release the money as it wants an assurance from the external affairs ministry that the money will be reimbursed to the company.
With the officials of the ministry of external affairs claiming ignorance of the matter every time the 42 PMS approach them, the seamen wonder if their tussle with the ministry and SCI would ever end.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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