CHENNAI: After months of delay, the staff of 1098 Child Helpline (CHL) finally received their pending salaries of two months recently. Meanwhile, the June month salary and travel allowance of three months is yet to be paid.
This is not an isolated incident, allege stakeholders. Many lamented the delay in salaries and allowance for several months despite constant reminders and media coverage.
“We received the salaries of April and May on Friday. But, the salary for June is pending along with a travel allowance of three months. Since the funds have to come from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, we were told the allocation has been delayed,” said an employee.
Several narrated an ordeal of poor pay, lack of basic financial entitlements and the overload of work – all of which are detrimental to both mental and physical health, like in the case of Sangeetha. The staff also alleged that they are not given Provident Fund (PF) and insurance.
The CHL staff are employed to handle cases directly linked to children, which, more often than not, are highly sensitive and gruesome. But, the plight of these staff is seldom taken into consideration, specifically in terms of finance, mental and physical health, by the government. And, field experts call it ‘labour abuse’.
The helpline has them working in different roles such as a supervisor (Rs 21,000), counsellor (Rs 23,000), coordinator (Rs 28,000) and case worker (Rs 18,000). Though the salaries are meagre, it’s noteworthy that none of the employees get salary on time, and even on the rare occasions they do, they are never paid in full.
“We were paid only 40% in May, and haven’t been paid for June yet. In case of conveyance allowance, which we spend from rescuing the child to rehabilitation, we’re often not paid the amount on time,” said a CHL staff.