The volunteers of Indira Kranti Patham (IKP) programme from across Telangana staged a dharna here on Saturday demanding payment of salaries due for the last 17 months, increase of salary and provision of other facilities such as health and food security cards.
Several volunteers, including women, who are also known as village organisation assistants (VOAs), were arrested by the police when they tried to march towards the Secretariat by breaking the police cordon. The protest was organised under the aegis of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), to which the volunteers’ union was affiliated.
IKP volunteers from across the State gathered at Indira Park as part of ‘Chalo Hyderabad’ call protesting non-payment of their monthly honorarium (salary) of Rs. 2,000 since May 2013, to demand for increase in salary to Rs. 5,000 per month as promised by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during his election rallies and for sanction of health and food security cards.
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IKP president Dhanalaxmi, general secretary Nagesh and honorary president K. Satish Kumar, CITU State general secretary Saibabu, secretaries J. Venkatesh, P. Ramulu and C. Jayalaxmi alleged that the State government was planning to remove the volunteers from service instead of increasing their salary and providing other facilities.
CPI (M) MLA Sunnam Rajaiah, who expressed solidarity with the protesting volunteers, said he had opposed a proposal for increase of legislators’ salaries stating that it would not be fair on their part to get higher salaries when a large number of workers employed under various government programmes were seeking wage hike.
He criticised lack of response from the government to the repeated pleas of IKP volunteers and stated that he would raise the issue in the Assembly.
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