The district unit of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (B. Krishnappa Sthapitha) on Wednesday sought the resignation of Minister for Urban Development Suresh Kumar over the recent death of manual scavengers in the State.
Staging a protest in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, members of the DSS sought the resignation of the Minister for the death of Kitta Koraga in Kinnigoli and manual scavengers in Kolar district.
Addressing the members, Venkatagiriaiah Mandya said the families of the people who died in both incidents must be given a compensation of Rs. 25 lakh and a job. He said that the three political parties in the State which had formed governments – the Congress, the BJP and the JD (S) – had the same attitude towards manual scavenging.
He said although there was a good law banning manual handling of human excreta, successive governments were not interested in implementing it. He criticised the BJP government as “anti-people” as it had done nothing to stop the practice of making people manually remove waste from cesspits.