Watch: Jamia Maktaba employees driving e-rickshaw make ends meet as 22-month salary not paid
Prestigious Urdu publishing house Maktaba Jamia headquartered at Jamia Millia Islamia is in ruins as the employees have not been paid salaries for the last 22 months and to overcome financial hardship two of its employees have been driving e-rickshaw in Okhla, said Rizwan Mustafa Arshi, the officer in charge of Jamia Maktaba.
In an exclusive interaction with the OT, Arshi said the media and Urdu lovers are talking about the reopening of Jamia Urdu bookstore, one of our branches, but nobody knows where the main problem is.
He said the situation is very bad and two of our employees are driving e-rickshaw after the office is closed to meet their household expenses. “They come to me to ask when we will get salaries. Several letters have been written to the university Vice Chancellor but there has been no reply,” he said.
The university has been reached for comment when we get it will be added in the story.
Managing director of Maktaba Shahzad Anjum has maintained silence over the issue and is avoiding calls from journalists.
“We owe almost Rs 1.5 crore in total, including salaries to 16 employees in Delhi, Mumbai and Aligarh. Despite Jamia Millia Islamia holding a 92 per cent share in Maktaba, we feel it has grossly neglected this publishing division. The Jamia vice-chancellor, who is chairperson of Maktaba, hasn’t attended a single board meeting,” Arshi said.
Maktaba was founded by Zakir Hussain in 1922.
