Contract labourers working at Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) have launched a four-day hunger strike in turns, outside the power station at Shaktinagar, about 20 kms from here, on Monday putting forth a set of 16 demands including regularisation of their services.
The agitation was organised under the banner of RTPS Contract Labourers’ Association, affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS). The labourers lashed out at RTPS and Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) for ignoring their continued agitation.
“We had demonstrated outside RTPS in Shaktinagar a couple of weeks ago. Thereafter, we continued to protest every day by raising slogans before entering the power station in the morning and after completing the work in the evening. Since the RTPS and KPCL ignored our agitation, we also protested outside the office of Deputy Commissioner in Raichur a week ago. Since there is no positive response from any corner of the government, we have opted for hunger strike,” said P. Srinivasreddy, Association’s president said.
T. Veerappa, Association’s General Secretary, said that the contract labourers would fast for four days turn by turn. “The contract labourers’ demand to regularise their services is justifiable as they have been working more for less wages for the last several years. Many labour unions and other civil society organisations have extended their solidarity with our agitation. If the KPTCL continued to ignore us, we will have to intensify our struggle,” he said. Though the State government had, based on the sub-committee of Karnataka State Contract Labour Advisory Board, abolished the contract labour system in RTPS in 2005, KPCL is continuing the system till date, he objected.
Their demands included constitution of a committee to identify the contract labourers, whose service records were not maintained, for calculating seniority and regularisation their services, offering a regular job to a family member in case of death of a contract labourer on duty, giving priority to contract labourers in the fresh appointments, extending facilities such as leaves, canteen, medical, retiring rooms and weekly off to contract labourers, offering production and other incentives, transport facilities to contract labourers and allotting unoccupied labour quarters to contract labourers.
