Contractual staff go on hunger strike

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 9

Activists of the Contractual Workers Union began a hunger strike during the campaigning for the MC elections at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar hall here against the Congress government’s non-fulfillment of promises made to them eight months ago.

The employees, blaming the government, said that despite making many promises to them, politicians were not willing to talk to them after the forming of the government. Activists said no minister was willing to talk to young activists and they don’t have time for any of the youths either.

Activists said they had written letters to the government many times in which they had demanded time for a meeting with the government, but it did not respond to them. Seeing no response from the authorities, the activists had resorted to the path of protests, but the promises from the CM’s office had time and again proved to be false.

They said due to this, now the young activists were forced to hold a hunger strike. Issuing a press statement, activists of the Contractual Employees Action Committee, Ashish Julaha, Varinder Singh, Gagandeep Sharma, Ramesh Kumar, and class IV union leader Jaswinder Uggi, Ved Paraksh and Subhash Mattoo, said before taking a pledge, the employees were called for dialogue soon.

Activists said the Suvidha employees were sharing their expenses with the government, but the exact opposite was happening now. The country is running seva kendras, and was taking a huge fee from the common man. They also said that separate money was being taken from the government. Activists said the act passed by the Vidhan Sabha had also been left suspended by the government. They said by the implmenattion of the Act and the regularising of contractual employees, there were not going to be any additional financial burdens on the government.

Activists said due to no dialogue by the government, the activists were forced to hold protests since the government’s false promises on the provision of jobs had been exposed.

They said he situation was such that the government was bent upon ousting employees working for the past 10 years. Activists said orders to oust 10 employees working under MNREGA had also been issued by the government and, additionally, PUDA and GMADA employees were going to be given edicts to be ousted from jobs after December 31 – which will not be tolerated by the employees.