'District admin ignoring sand problem'

A huge protest rally was organized by the District Building and Other Construction Workers’ Association against the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the district administration in solving the sand problem that exists in the district near Clock Tower on Wednesday.

A huge protest procession was held to lay siege to the MLA’s (district in-charge minister’s) office, however, police stopped the agitators near Diana Circle. The protest continued with the agitators shouting slogans against the state government, district administration and the people’s representatives of all the five Assembly constituencies, especially against District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj.

Raising the issue, the State Building and Other Construction Workers’ Association state secretary Suresh Kallagar alleged that the district administration has utterly failed to tackle the sand crisis in the district, which has resulted in thousands of labourers and their families struggling for livelihood. Sand has become priority of the privileged and illegal transaction has increased rampantly. The district administration is mum towards the illegal activities, he complained.

‘Govt least bothered’
Kallagar also alleged that the labourers are suffering but the state government is least bothered. He purported that the government is snatching away the rights of the labourers. The government has always had a step-motherly attitude towards construction workers.

He questioned why the labourers should tolerate the government and ministers who do not have humanity and sympathy. Insufficient staff in the Labour Department has resulted in the delay in the disposal of files, he alleged.

CITU district secretary Balakrishna Shetty alleged that the state government has assured to waive the loans of farmers, however, it is using the welfare funds of the labourers to waive the loans of the farmers. There is Rs 5,670 crore in Labour Welfare Board. The state government has transferred the amount to Apex Bank from the nationalised banks. The measure is taken in order to ensure that the amount of the loan of the farmers would be transferred to cooperative societies. It is total injustice meted out to the poor labourers who have been struggling to meet their both ends.

In the past 11 years, the government has only given Rs 177 crore for the children of the labourers from the Labour Welfare Board. The government is assuring to offer smart phones to labourers, which is hilarious. The poor labourers are unable to earn two square meals per day, how can they manage the currency for the smart phones, he asked.

The government should think matured over the basic necessities when compared to the all lavish materials which makes no sense, he censured and added that Kerala government has earmarked Rs 900 crore every year for the welfare of the poor labourers although it is a small state.

The Karnataka government had assured PF and houses for the labourers in the present fiscal budget, but in vain. The assurances has remained mere a lip service, he added. A state-level protest will be held on September 4 in Bengaluru demanding for the minimum wages of Rs 18,000, Shetty said.