Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader Varalakshmi made a strong plea at the Kannada sahitya sammelana to seek a law ensuring a minimum wage of ₹15,000 per month for workers in the State. She also asked for the labour laws to be made available in Kananda and the proceedings in the labour court to be conducted in Kannada as a majority of the workers did not understand English.
Ms. Varalakshmi was speaking at a session on pro-people’s movements in Karnataka held at the 83rd Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in the city on Sunday. The focus was the grassroots struggle. She presented an overview of the condition of the labour class in the State in particular and the country in general.
She said there were 44 labour laws, none of which accorded protection to the nearly 3.5 workers in the State – including the agricultural workers, thanks to the labour reforms that diluted the laws.
“We want to tell the government through this sammelana that no worker in the State should get wages below ₹15,000 per month,” she added. Ms. Varalakshmi also made a strong plea for functioning of the law court to be in Kannada as the working class who constituted the backbone of the labour force did not understand English.
Lack of representation
Ms.Varalakshmi said there were pre-budget meetings with various stakeholders like industrialists and entrepreneurs but none with the representatives of the working class, and hence urged the State to convene a labour conference to discuss the issues plaguing them. The other issues she raised pertained to job insecurity and the growing scourge of contract labour which had led to exploitation of the working class.
The former Advocate General of Karnataka Ravikumar said centralisation was a major threat to democracy and the grassroots movement was essential to ensure social justice.
Satish Kulkarni, presiding over the session, said grassroots and pro-people’s movement was essential to change the status quo and invigorate democracy.
Unity of farmers
Referring to the farmers’ movement in the State, Chamarasa Patil said it was essential to unite the farmers to help safeguard their interests. Presenting an overview of the Kannada movement in the State, activist R.N. Chandrashekar recalled that Gokak agitation and the entry of thespian Dr. Rajkumar was a turning point, followed by the Sarojini Mahishi report on providing jobs to the locals.
Gender inequality
L.G. Meera, critic, pointed out that though women constituted almost 50% of the population, they held less than 10% of the property. She spoke of gender inequality prevailing in society and said the struggle for women’s rights was also a facet of the pro-people’s grassroots movement.
