Around 9,000 employees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai were in for a rude awakening on March 31 when they received their salary slips and found that only Re 1 had been credited as their total salary for the month.
The reason behind this shocking anomaly was the employees’ failure to link their PAN (Permanent Account Number) and Aadhaar cards before the March 31 deadline set by the income tax department. Particularly affected were workers in the conservancy and solid waste management departments of the BMC. Now, these employees are scrambling to gather the necessary documents to link both cards as mandated.
The affected workers are expressing their disappointment and frustration with the BMC, stating that they were not informed about the need to link their PAN and Aadhaar cards earlier. Nagesh Ghadge, a conservancy worker at the F South ward chowky in Parel, who has been with the BMC since 2007, shared his concerns. He earns a monthly income of ₹49,000 for his duties, which involve cleaning BMC vans used for distributing containers and dustbins.
“We were not even told about linking the two cards,” Ghadge complained. “We have now been asked to submit documents and assured that we will get our salaries back. If we don’t get them, it will be a betrayal. This is unjust, and the least the BMC could have done was to ask our superiors to make an announcement at all conservancy chowkies to get the cards linked.”
Karpan Chinapayan’s son, Kartik, took over his father’s role as a conservancy worker after Karpan suffered a paralytic stroke 18 months ago. “My son, who sweeps roads in Andheri West, received Re 1 as salary,” said Karpan. “We would have got the two cards linked, had we known earlier.”
Vijay D Sakpal, a BMC labourer in the solid waste management department, provided insight into the scale of the issue. He obtained a list of 9,000 workers from A to T wards who received a salary of Re 1. “What are we going to eat this month? They didn’t even warn us that our salary will get deducted, and neither are we educated enough to know that we are supposed to link our PAN and Aadhar cards,” expressed Sakpal, who has been working since 2005 and earns a monthly income of ₹55,000.
Naresh Parmar, another BMC worker who sweeps roads in F South ward in Parel, raised similar concerns. “I earn ₹25,000 every month. Why couldn’t the BMC inform us a month in advance? How are we going to fend for ourselves now?”
Sanjog Kabare, the deputy municipal commissioner of solid waste management, explained the situation. He stated that the issue was related to the accounts department and that he had spoken to the office of the chief accountant, treasury, responsible for salary disbursement.
“Their contention is that March 31 was the last day for linking the Aadhaar and PAN cards,” Kabare explained. “This is known to everybody through TV and newspaper advertisements. If the cards aren’t linked, PAN card benefits are stopped, and 20% income tax is deducted from the salaries. Because of the 20% annual deduction of TDS on salary, the workers have not received any money this month.”
Kabare emphasized the immediate need for workers to link their cards. “The finance department extended the June 2023 deadline by almost a year,” he mentioned. “It was an individual responsibility to get the cards linked.” He added that whether the workers’ salaries would be reimbursed after linking the two cards would depend on income tax rules.
The employees, now facing financial strain due to the unexpected deduction, are hoping for a resolution to this issue soon, with many expressing their disappointment at the lack of prior communication and support from the BMC.
