Southern States
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Kerala
They pin their hopes on the President's promise
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 8. Yet another session of the Legislative Assembly has ended, but a nearly year-and-a-half-long dharna by the Kerala State Temporary Employees Association (KSTEA) in front of the Secretariat continues.
The dharna had been launched by the association on August 1 last year to press for the implementation of the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan's announcement that all temporary employees would be made permanent in connection with the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Independence.
According to the association convener, Ms. Usha, while States such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had acted on the President's assurance, the Kerala Government had altered the order to make it apply only to handicapped temporary employees.
Ms. Usha, who had worked as a teacher in various schools for about three years, says that when the dharna was launched, the women members had undertaken a hunger-strike for about 10 months while the men had done `sayana pradhakshina' on the road in front of the Secretariat.
Ironically, the dharna had been inaugurated by Mr. Babu Divakaran, who is at present the Labour Minister. ``Many leaders supported the strike before the election, but no one cares for us now. Though we have given petitions to almost all the Ministers, no favourable action has been taken,'' says Ms. Usha.
``We even went to New Delhi to submit a petition to the President in August last, but what can he do if the State Government is not ready to give us jobs?'' asks Ms. Usha.
Says Ms. Fathima Mary, who had been a typist at the university for six months, ``Many of us are widows who were dependent on the jobs, though we knew it was temporary. Most of us are over 40 and too old to write the PSC examination."
The strength of the association, which had about 300 members in the initial stage, dropped drastically as the agitation dragged on. Now there are hardly any candidates to sit in dharna and only the banner is there to denote the dharna spot.
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