Delay in MoD grants leave Pune Cantonment Board staffers on contract without wages

Pune: PCB has cleared salaries for its permanent staffers, but hundreds of contractual workers continue to await their dues, highlighting the financial strain on the civic body due to delayed grants from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).The unpaid contractual workers comprise sanitation and conservancy staffers, security guards, health assistants working in cantonment hospital, and data entry operators in the administrative department. Many of these employees said their families were entirely dependent on their monthly wages.
"It is good that at least permanent employees have been paid their salaries. But our financial situation is bad. Our families totally rely on the monthly payment we receive," said a contractual employee. "The delay has made life extremely difficult for many of us." According to officials, the cantonment board was yet to receive grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Defence despite submitting a proposal in the recent past. The board requires at least Rs8 crore every month for disbursing salaries, pensions, and other essential operational expenses across departments. However, Pune Cantonment Board (PCB)'s own revenue sources remain limited, making it heavily dependent on financial assistance from the defence ministry. "There is no clarity on why the grant was delayed or when it will be released," said a senior PCB official. "It has become extremely challenging to ensure smooth functioning of the board under these circumstances." While the release of salaries for permanent staffers have provided partial relief, contractual employees alleged that repeated delays exposed their vulnerability despite their critical role in maintaining civic services, including sanitation, security, and healthcare. Officials said that prolonged delays in funding could impact essential services within the cantonment area, if the financial situation did not improve soon. The board reportedly sent multiple reminders to the ministry seeking early disbursal of funds. "With no definite timeline for the release of grants, uncertainty continues to loom over hundreds of contractual workers who remain unpaid even as they continue to perform their routine duties," said another senior official from the PCB. "Our work did not stop even for a single day. Most essential civic works depend on us, but when it comes to salaries, we are the last priority," said another contractual worker from the conservancy department. A section of officials said that private contractors were also supposed to take care of salaries of their employees. "For instance, security guards are supposed to receive payment from a private contractor for at least three months, even if the agency does not receive payment from the cantonment. This condition is explicitly mentioned in the contract. But they did not receive their salaries for the last two months," said officials. Vidyadhar Pawar, the chief executive officer of PCB, did not respond to phone calls and messages despite repeated attempts to seek his version.