"We express concern over the plight of health department employees especially Safai Karamcharis (sweepers) whose salaries have been withheld for the last eight months in connection with an ongoing departmental enquiry," CPI (M) State Secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said.
He said the snail pace with which the inquiry is going has not only affected the functioning of the department but also the families dependent on the employees under the scanner of the inquiry committee.
In most of the cases, the sweepers are without their salaries for the last eight months, Tarigami said.
The CPI(M) leader said he is not against the inquiry but the pace, with which it is going on, indicates that it is heading nowhere. He urged the government to release the pending salaries of the affected employees.