Alleging that his certificates and salary are being blocked by a Kerala-based private gold loan company; a man had approached the District Administration on Thursday to help him get his certificates back.

M. Sivakumar, a resident of Dindigul district, was chosen, after an interview, to work as member of the office staff at the Manapuram Gold Loan, on 09.01.2015. He was instructed to submit his original certificates while joining work, which he did.

“I was initially placed with the Saravanampatti branch and was later transferred to other branches in the district, and was also shifted to other departments,” he said. Claiming that the series of transfers had come after he had gone on a long leave to look after his mother, Sivakumar said that he had clarified the issues with his higher officials, but the transfers continued. He said that the transfers were more like punishment to him for his leave of absence.

“When I approached the higher officials in this issue, they spoke harshly with me and threatened to throw me out of the job. I was later dismissed and was not even paid my salary for the last month’s work,” Sivakumar alleged.

Further, he said that the company had refused to return his original certificates, and had been making him run from pillar to post to get them back. “My company owes me Rs.40,000 in salary dues, but they are asking me to pay them Rs.10,500, which is my month’s salary, in order to return my certificates,” he said.

Submitting a petition to District Collector Archana Patnaik and Police Commissioner A. Amalraj, Sivakumar added that many other employees suffer the same fate at the organization. “I have sought the help of the police, but others are afraid that they would lose their jobs too,” he added.