Organised under the banner of the Karnataka State Gram Panchayat Workers Association, gram panchayat workers staged a demonstration at the Tipu Sultan gardens near the office of Deputy Commissioner here on Tuesday demanding that they be paid minimum wages fixed by the government. They alleged that minimum wages as per the regulations in force were not being paid to computer operators, tax collectors, water supply staff and others employed in various gram panchayats in the taluk.
“Local governance bodies in rural areas are not complying with the labour laws in force. The authorities concerned are not responding to the demands even after repeated requests and agitations by the workers,” D.S. Sharanabasava, a workers’ leader, said during the agitation. Their demands included fund allocation for paying salaries to gram panchayat workers, maintenance of EPF book, promoting water-supply staff who have completed SSLC and five years in service as tax collectors, promoting tax collectors to Grade-2 secretaries and assistant accountants, payment of wages on or before the fifth day of every month. A memorandum was submitted to the Executive Officer of Taluk Panchayat.
