Visakhapatnam: Naval Armament Depot (NAD) employees and family members of those who went missing along with AN32 flight belonging to Indian Air Force in July, staged a protest in front of Naval establishments on Wednesday demanding jobs to the next of kin on compassionate grounds.
They also said that the NAD authorities are not cooperating with them and not sharing any information regarding the missing flight and search operation efforts.
It has been over four months since the Indian Air Force AN32 plane went missing over the Bay of Bengal after taking off from the Tambaram airbase in Chennai, with 29 people onboard, including eight employees of Naval Armament Depot (NAD), Visakhapatnam.
The family members of the eight NAD employees are in dire straits, as the government or the Navy of late has not been communicating with them and they have not received salaries for the last two months.
The NAD workers under the banner of All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) said that NAD management has not reacted appropriately since the aircraft went missing and they have not tried to help the families of eight employees who have sacrificed their lives for the country.
E. Srinivasa Rao, IT said that it was very unfortunate that the NAD officials have denied paying salaries to the families of the missing eight persons by citing various reasons such as audit objections even after clarification by the HQ of Eastern Naval Command (ENC), he added.
No doubt the authorities of NAD has utterly failed to support the family members of the missing persons but we are requesting the Defence Minister to intervene in the issue and extend help to family members of the victims said M. Durga Prasad, general secretary of NADCE.
“Our demands include continuing payment of salaries to the family members of the missing persons, provide appointment on compassionate grounds to one family member of the missing persons and grant all death benefits on par with service personnel said U.R.S. Naidu and K.J. Mohan Rao, the union members.
The member of All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) along with family members of the missing person will organise a signature campaign on December 2 and 3 and to submit to the Defence Minister. They also would meet District Collector Pravin Kumar MLAs, and MPs to meet Defence Minster to express their difficulties.
