Meet our demands, labourers urge govt

Measures should be taken to prevent harassment of the Anganwadi members

They took out a protest march, which passed through the various thoroughfares of the City and finally staged a dharna in front of the Taluk office.
The members shouted anti-government slogans throughout the protest march. The members alleged that the Government was deceiving the labourers by not providing minimum wages and their was on employment security to these labourers serving in different sectors.

Labourers serving in the Anganwadis centres, Akshara Dasoha, the members of the Gram Panchayat Labourers Association, etc, were being deceived by the succeeding Governments, which had failed to provide them minimum wages.
Addressing the members, CITU co-ordinator G Siddagangappa expressed that for the last several years, the State government had failed to provide minimum wages of Rs 6,000 to the labourers in the State, who were working in the Anganwadi centres, Akshara Dasoha and the Gram Panchayats.

Fund to mutts
He said, the Government, instead of providing decent wages to the labourers, was more keen on contributing funds to the Mutts and elsewhere. The ministers in the Government were spending crores of money, but were not bothered about the sufferings of the labourers, he alleged.
According to the rules, the Akshara Dasoha programme should ensure employment to the local people.

But instead, it was being given on contract to the private companies. Measures should be taken to ensure that the Anganwadi workers were not harassed unnecessarily and also, the cooks who were suspended from their services, should be reappointed, Siddagangappa urged.

A memorandum of demands was submitted to the tahsildar on the occasion.
Rs 2,330 payment

Accepting the memorandum, the tahsildar informed that the Gram Panchayat secretaries had been informed through the Taluk Executive officers, to pay an amount of Rs 2,330 every month to the labourers who were serving in the Gram Panchayats, including watermen, gardeners, attenders, etc.

Complaint
The tahsildar further warned that, in case, if the Gram Panchayat secretaries failed to follow these orders, then, a complaint could be lodged with the local executive officers, based on which, suitable action will be taken against the secretaries, as per the Government orders.

The tahsilder also ordered for the reappointment of the cooks who were suspended from their services, due to harassment meted out by the teachers of the School Development Committees, the Gram Panchayat and the public.

The protesters withdrew their protest, when their demands were met.
CITU leader C C Ashwathappa, Thippaiah, Gangappa, Joint Co-ordinators Jayamangala, Saraswathamma, T V Narayanamma, Rajamma, Narasamma and office-bearers and members of the various associations and organisations took part in the protest.