As part of the nationwide protest by the Military Engineer Service Builders Association of India (MESBAI), the members of the Association in Dibrugarh also staged protest on Thursday against non-payment of dues for works done by the builders.
The members of the MES Builders Association of India staged peaceful protests at three different locations of Dibrugarh in support of their demands.
Talking to media persons, Ajit Chetia, Chairman of Dinjan, Chabua Branch of MESBAI, said the builders have been suffering a lot due to financial crunch for the last six months because of the non-payment of dues.
“We have taken out a nationwide protest against non-payment of our dues,” said Chetia.
“We have appealed to the Ministry of Defence to release our dues but despite several attempts, nothing has worked and due to that some of our contracts are facing financial problems,” he added.
Chetia also said, “It is a matter of grave concern that the government is paying no heed to the life-threatening situations of the patriotic and dedicated MES builders who are always committed to do their works in order to enhance the infrastructural capabilities of the military without considering the adverse climate conditions.”
The MESBAI has altogether 72 branches all over India.
“We organised peaceful protest at Dinjan in Chabua and Mohanbari, and later submitted a memorandum before the Garrison Engineer seeking fulfilment of our demands,” said Nitul Kumar Saikia, general Secretary, Dinjan, Chabua Branch of MESBAI.
“We appeal to the Ministry of Defence to immediately release our dues,” Saikia added.
He also said if their demands are not met within a specific period of time then they would intensify their movement.
MES is one of the oldest and largest government defence infrastructure development agencies in India.
It is mainly engaged in the engineering and construction for the Indian armed forces including the Indian army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.