Protest: Hundreds of women hostel employees sleep on road in front of railway station

Over 300 members of Karnataka State Hostel and Residential School Outsourced Employees Association are staging an indefinite strike Protesters arrived in trains to stage a protest but police stopped them at the railway station, prompting them to sleep on the road. They are demanding regularisation of employment, PF, ESI leave and other facilities. The first round of talks with the Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya was not fruitful.

Hundreds of members of Karnataka State Hostel and Residential School Outsourced Employees Association are staging an indefinite protest in front of Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station, Majestic, pressing various demands. They arrived in train from all over the State to stage a protest at the Freedom Park but on account of Kempe Gowda Jayanthi the police did not permit them to proceed to the park. Hence they started the protest outside the railway station.

Speaking to newspersons the General Secretary of the Association Bhima Shetty Yampalli said, the government is making direct recruitment of Class D employees for hostels and residential schools of Scheduled and Backward communities. This will put 17,000 outsourced employees who are serving for the past 2 decades out of job.  Hence the government should restrict the direct appointment to newly started hostels and residential schools only. The outsourced employees should be given PF, ESI, leave and minimum security of employment he said, reported Kannada Prabha.

The outsourced employees are not demanding promotion; hence they should be paid equal wage for equal work till retirement. Those engaged in services on daily wage basis should be regularised under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Regulations Act 2012, he said.

More than 300 women had brought their children with them and it was a sorry sight to see them sleeping on the ground.

The first round of talks were held by the association with the Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya but it was not fruitful.  Until the demands are met the outsourced employees are resorting to indefinite strike, said Association General Secretary Bhima Shetty Yampalli, reported Kannada Prabha.