GREATER NOIDA: A group of housekeeping staff locked the main gate of Depot metro station for around 30 minutes on Monday, protesting an almost 50% cut in wages by the private contractor and accusing NMRC of turning a deaf ear to their pleas.As many as 13 of the protesters were arrested later in the evening. They will have to spend a maximum of 15 days in jail as their bail bonds were rejected. The housekeeping staff, though, have been protesting since January 21, demanded that an FIR be lodged against the private contractor for cutting down their salary. The staff had been getting Rs 12,900 a month, which was almost halved to Rs 6,600 in January.The protesters claimed they had been working on the premises of the Depot station since April 2018 and have now been getting threats from the private contractor that they would lose their jobs.“We have been sitting in protest since January 21 to demand that we be paid the earlier wages. We have also sought a copy of the new tender under which we have been appointed. We want to know under which rule our salary has been reduced,” said one of the protesters.The staff, who had met the Gautam Budh Nagar DM on January 28 demanding equal work, equal pay and salary hike, alleged that despite the DM referring their application to NMRC, nothing has been done so far. The housekeeping staff had been working under a DMRC contractor earlier, but the agency was changed after NMRC took over operations.On Monday, the protesters arrived outside Depot station around 3pm and started reiterating their demands. However, as the security personnel did not allow them to go inside, they sat outside the main gate. They were led by Savita Sharma, a local activist.After some time, the protesters locked the main gate of the metro station for around half-an-hour. A team from Surajpur police station arrested 13 of the protesters.While most of the male protesters were evicted from the site, Sharma continued her sit-in till around 7.30 pm. “We want an FIR registered against the contractor with whom we have been associated. We are not even getting our provident fund,” she said.The arrested protesters were also challaned under CrPC 151 (preventive detention). They have been sent to jail as the SDM (Sadar) rejected their bail bonds.Surajpur SHO Munish Chauhan said the bail bonds were not accepted by the SDM “because of the gravity of the situation”. Asked about the quantum of punishment, he said the jail term could extend up to 15 days.PD Upadhyay, executive director at NMRC, said the housekeeping staff were employed with DMRC. “We have nothing to do with them,” he said.

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