Vehicular movement between Ram Mandir Square and Master Canteen Square came to a standstill for around two hours on Monday as nearly 6,000 Gaon Sathis took out a huge rally from the Ram Mandir Square pressing for a five-point charter of demands.
Commuters passing through the stretch got stuck in the rally and were seen venting anger against the policemen who directed them towards the lanes and by-lanes. Shouting slogans, the agitators coming from almost all the districts under the banner of Gaon Sathi Joint Coordination Committee took out the rally at around 11.30 am and later staged a demonstration in front of the Assembly. Their demands include regularisation of job, permanent appointment of the workers in their respective panchayats with a monthly incentive of Rs 4,500, repeal of five-member village coordinator panel and 200 working days to job card holders instead of 100.
The Mahasangha alleged that the workers, who discharged key functions as coordinators for implementation of different schemes and programmes at the grassroots level, were neglected. “We are qualified and worth our post and had been recruited through a thorough process of advertisement and tests,” said committee State coordinator laxmidhar Biswal.