Union terms sacking of 297 PTI employees in a single day ‘illegal’

India's most trusted news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) on Saturday, September 29 sacked 297 employees across the country in a single day, triggering panic as well as controversy.

An order signed by the chief administrative officer MR Mishra, along with names of the retrenched employees has been published in the website of the news agency.

"The following employees whose name appear in the list displayed with this notice have been retrenched from the employment of the PTI limited with immediate effect. retrenchment letters are sent to each individual by registered post and the entire amount as detailed in the Retrenchment letter is transferred in their accounts," reads the order, which can be seen below:

Condemning the retrenchment, the Federation of PTI Employees' Unions has termed it as "illegal", and demanded the withdrawal of the retrenchment with immediate effect (see below). However, it is unclear whether the union will challenge the decision in court.

A PTI employee told National Herald on the condition of anonymity that all those who have been sacked will hold a day long dharna in front of the PTI building in Delhi on Monday, October 1. The Employees' Union will also participate in the dharna," he said.

The PTI management has unofficially clarified that retrenched employees are not from the editorial department. "They are non-journalists," said a member of the management team.

As per insiders, the PTI management has been planning to implement Voluntary Retirement from Service for non-journalist employees, and an internal communication has also reportedly been sent to the employees in this regard recently.

However, seeing the communication going unheeded, the management ordered a bloodbath of 297 staff in a single day, said a journalist working with the agency.