During G20, employees working in Bharat Mandapam protested, accused the company of not paying salaries

The event of G20 held at Bharat Mandapam was highly praised not only in the country but all over the world. The country’s largest convention center is a beauty worth seeing. It was decorated like a bride for the G20. Amidst all this, the employees of the company that maintains Bharat Mandapam demonstrated outside Pragati Maidan on Tuesday, alleging that they were not paid salaries.

In fact, about 250 people were hired by a company called Pristine Utilities for the preparations and maintenance during the G20 in Bharat Mandapam. His allegation is that now the company is not paying him his salary. The employees who came to protest at Pragati Maidan said that the company had told them that they would be paid Rs 16,000 per month, but many got only around Rs 2500.

Umashankar, who was protesting, said that I had come here on 16th August. We worked here for 8 to 12 hours. First they fired us from work and now they are not paying our salaries. When we continuously asked for salary, I was given only Rs 2700. Whereas many colleagues have received only Rs 2,000. There are 200-250 people like us, who were working here. We are not being allowed inside now.

He said that we have done duty in G20 for three days continuously. We worked while hungry and thirsty. Now we are not being paid. If we could not pay the house rent, the landlord threw us out of the house. Our younger-  There are small children and no one is listening to us.

How grand is Bharat Mandapam?

The work of redeveloping Pragati Maidan started in 2017.  It has been developed under the national project.  Rs 2,700 crore has been spent on this.  The imprint of Indian culture and tradition is visible on every floor, every room and every place of Bharat Mandapam.  This entire convention center is spread over 123 acres.  How big this area is, it can be understood that it is equal to 26 football stadiums.

Seven new exhibition halls have been built in this.  There is a big hall on its third floor, in which seven thousand people can sit together.  It is bigger than the Sydney Opera House of Australia.  Apart from this, three open amphitheaters have also been built in it.  These amphitheatres can seat three thousand people at a time.