Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra is going through Karnataka, on Tuesday interacted with women labourers of MNREGA, anganwadi workers, ASHAs, women waste-pickers, and beedi rollers in various parts of Chitradurga district.
There were also discussions with women on domestic violence and alcoholism among men in the households, with many demanding liquor ban, according to a release.
Kotramma, a MNREGA worker from Hagari Bommanahalli, said that presently work was limited to 100 days per family and wages were ₹309. She demanded that the work days cap be increased to 200 days and raise the daily wage to ₹600 in the context of price rise.
Bhagyamma, an ASHA in Hulikunta village, said her entire earnings was based on an incentive system that has no stability and that she was not getting paid in time.
Geeta, who works as a waste-picker in Davangere city, said her job was considered taboo in society, but she had no option but to resort to it like her ancestors, as they had no access to education.
In the course of one of the interactions, Lakshmi Devi, who works as a guest teacher in Kudligi, who was born without hands, showed how she had adapted herself to write using her feet. She explained how she successfully pursued B.Ed. degree and built a life for herself. Mr. Gandhi admired her faith in life and told that he couldn’t have got himself educated in the manner that she had, if he was born with the same disadvantage, said the release.
