CIC employees' fate in Arunachal murky

Itanagar, Jan 21: Uncertainty looms large over the fate of 112 odd employees of Community Information Center (CIC) in Arunachal Pradesh as the deadline of their contract service is going to end on February.

Altogether 56 CIC set up in the state in 56 community development (CD) blocks set up by Union Information and Technology Ministry in 2002 with an objective to cater to the IT needs of the state for a period of five years ends this year.

According to an MoU signed between the ministry and state government all the infrastructure and manpower of the CICs would be at the discretion of the state government.

During the last five years the salaries and other expenditures were borne by the Centre including an amount of 30 lakh spend on each CIC for their infrastructure development.

''We are opposing the move of the government to extend the period of contract and instead demand to absorb all the employees in other government departments,'' Arunachal Pradesh Community Information Centre Employees' Association (APCICEA) president Dacha Bagang said in a press conference here this afternoon.

''Extension of our contract period would hamper our age factor for other service as we have already spent most of the valuable period of our lives in serving the state'', he added.

They have also threatened to go for a mass democratic movement and initiate legal action if the state government fails to respond.

Referring to the service rendered by the CICs in the state the president said the CICs have helped the state in preparing data base on below poverty line and above poverty line population and have in helped several other government departments.

Mr Bagang further assured that CIC would go for complete e-filing at all the levels besides providing reliable and fast information, imparting computer education at all levels and making the CICs highest generating office, if the employees were absorbed in various government departments.

UNI