Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) will be launching a campaign demanding the ouster of Labour Minister P.T. Parmeshwar Naik from the Cabinet.
Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, S. Prasannakumar, general secretary of State unit of CITU, accused Mr. Naik of adopting anti-labour stance and protecting the interest of the owners.
He said that a State-level protest demonstration would be held on November 23, urging Mr. Naik to step down.
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“If he does not resign, then we will urge the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to drop him from the Cabinet,” he added.
Stating that the condition of the working class in the State was very precarious under the present dispensation, he accused the Labour Department, for its failure to protect them.
“Mr. Naik, instead of initiating steps to ensure the welfare of labourers by getting them their due as per the provisions of the law, was protecting the interest of owners/capitalists, which was very unfortunate. As a Minister, he should have taken all necessary steps to ensure that minimum wages were paid to the working class, but he appeared to be not bothered,” he said.
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Mr. Prasannakumar also took strong exception to the Minister seeking a review of the draft proposal on payment of minimum wages. “The board had recommended minimum wages of Rs. 10,010. The Minister got the draft referred the draft back for a revision, which was unwarranted,” he said.R.S. Basavaraj and J. Satyababu, president and general secretary, respectively, of the district CITU unit, were present.