People's Democracy

KARNATAKA

Workers Lathicharged, Arrested, Falsely Implicated

In a statement issued from Bangalore on September 15, the Karnataka state committee of the CITU has condemned the lathicharge on and arrest of CITU leaders and activists in various parts of the state. In particular, the police brutally hit and injured the CITU leaders at Hassan, Raichur and Gulbarga. In all these places, false cases were also foisted against several CITU leaders.

On the day, thousands of workers led by CITU leaders are arrested at Mangalore, Bangalore and other places. The CITU�s state president B Madhava, CITU state secretary S Prasanna Kumar, Karnataka Gram Panchayat Workers Union president Maruti Manpade and several other leaders are in jail.

The police resorted to the attack on workers when they took out processions to the deputy commissioners� offices all over the state to demand notification of a uniform minimum wages of Rs 6000 per month all over the state, except Bangalore where the demand is for Rs 10,000. The other demands the workers raised included effective statutory regulation of the contract system, social security measures, universal rationing, house sites, effective implementation of labour laws etc. CITU unions had served their demands charter to the respective deputy commissioners in various district a month back. They also staged dharnas in about 175 taluks from September 7 to 11. Yet the BJP state government did not seriously attended to their demands.

Earlier, on August 25, the chief minister had met a delegation of CITU leaders for a brief time and heard their demand for a uniform minimum wage. Yet, the government has so far not taken any steps to issue a single notification covering all schedules of employment and fixing a uniform minimum wage.

The CITU has decided to step up the agitation and carry forward the struggle until the government concedes the demands. (INN)