Thousands of people came to the city from across the State in lorries and jeeps to take part in the ‘Prajarakshana Bheri’, organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on November 15 (Wednesday).
A group of five people from Narasaraopet in Palnadu district said they came to the meeting to highlight issues plaguing contract employees of the municipalities and corporations.
“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had said he would regularise the jobs of municipal contract workers immediately after coming to power. But five years have passed, and we are still waiting to be heard,” they said.
If their services are regularised, they will get ₹26,000 a month as against ₹15,000 that they get now. Now, after deductions, their take-home pay is just about ₹13,000.
One of them, P. Mose, 52, who has been working as a municipal contract employee in the town for nearly 30 years, said: “We are allowed to take two leaves in a month. If we avail even one more day of leave, we lose ₹700 per day. If we lose our lives while in service, our children will not be given jobs on compassionate grounds because we are contract employees.”
He added that they were threatened with dismissal from service if they raised their voice. Out of 400 contract workers at Narasaraopet, 200 had come to the meeting after taking permission from higher-ups, they said.
A group of 50 municipal contract workers came from Proddatur in YSR district with similar issues. They said they are ineligible for any of the government’s welfare schemes including Amma Vodi.
Another woman, an Anganwadi worker who did not wish to be named, said she came along with six other women from Chintalapudi in West Godavari district, to bring people’s attention to their plight. The workers have been demanding a wage hike for months now.
Another woman, R. Sakuntala, an agricultural labourer earning ₹130 a day in Palnadu district, said she came with the hope of telling CPI(M) leaders how she has not received a house under the ‘Pedalandiriki Illu’ scheme of the YSRCP government.
Ms. Sakuntala, who lives in a rented house with her husband and two daughters, said: “When I approached officials, I was told that someone has to recommend my name for the scheme. That never happened.”
The roads leading to the stadium were lined on both sides with men and women carrying red flags. Traffic congestion was reported at several places.
