News and Pics from Hemanath Padubidri
For Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (RD/CN)
Udupi, Jul 8: It was a day of protests at the office of deputy commissioner (DC) P Hemalata, on Monday, July 7. Members of the district Anganawady workers’ association and the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) Ambedkarism staged demonstrations in the morning and afternoon, respectively.
Both parties sought to have their demands met and submitted individual memorandums to the DC, separately. The anganawady workers also held a rally highlighting their demands which include a hike in honorary payment, retirement benefits and pension, formation of ‘Bala Vikas’ committee, supply of nutritious food to school students by Sree Shakti self-help groups, reinstating of 7,194 anganawady assistants which was withheld by the high court, provision of housing to anganawady workers, issuance of BPL cards, supplying LPG to ‘Akshara Dasoha’ and not engaging anganawady workers on health department duties.
Sharada, president of the district Anganawady workers’, Sharada, secretary Leela, and a large number of anganawady workers took part in the protest.
DSS members, meanwhile, sought to find solutions to the difficulties faced by dalits across the district. They urged the state administration to distribute housing sites to landless dalits in Udupi district, to fill district-level backlog of vacancies, to waive agricultural loans obtained from Dr Ambedkar development board, to advance loans at a rate of three percent by increasing financial aid to the Dr Ambedkar development board, and to speed up the construction of the Dr Ambedkar Bhavan in the district and make it available for the benefit of dalits.
They also wanted the authorities to complete the construction of the post-metric boys’ hostel undertaken by the social welfare department, to waive loans availed by dalit fishermen and advance loans including special financial assistance to dalit fisherwomen, to start a post-metric girls’ hostel in Udupi district, to float special housing scheme for dalits, especially fishermen, to award 18 percent of total contracts to be executed in the district to dalit-owned contracting firms or a dalit contractor.
DSS state convener Sundar master, district convener Sundar Gujjarabettu, Shyamaraj Birti, and Gopalakrishna Kundapura, were among those present at the protest.