Infuriated over the callous approach of the State Government for not fulfilling their year-long pending demands of association, four agitators climbed up the mobile tower near Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun on Saturday.
The agitators said they would withdraw their agitation only after their demands are fulfilled by the Government. Meantime, additionally police force was deployed at the protest site and the agitators remained on the top of the tower till late in the evening.
The high-voltage drama started on Saturday early morning at 5 am when four agitators climbed up a mobile tower near Vidhan Sabha to press for the year-long pending demands of the association. Hundreds of contractual employees from Contractual employees from Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl), Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam limited (UJVNl), Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand limited (PTCUl) under the banner of Uttarakhand Vidyut Samvida Karmchari Sangathan (UVSKS) gathered at protest site raising anti-department slogans in support of the their year long pending demands.
The incensed members have also threatened to intensify their agitation in the coming days, if their demands were not met by State Government.
The agitators said that the around 2,000-2,500 contract workers are employed in all three power departments and 15 per cent hike in salary, enforcement of labour laws and provision of `10 lakh compensation for the bereaved family in case of accidental death of a worker and a job for one dependent, official quarters etc. are pending demands of association.
The agitators cleared that members are in the mood of decisive show this time and will withdraw their agitation, once their year long pending demands are fulfilled by the department. While speaking to The Pioneer, Vinod Kavi, State General Secretary, UVSKS said that Kanchan Joshi, Darshan Bhandari, Randheer Pundir and Kusloanand have climbed the mobile tower in support of the year-long pending demands of association.
After expressing his concern over the issue that the department has agreed with the delegation of the Association that their demands would be fulfilled in the span of three months, Kavi said that the despite the fact the more than seven months have passed, the department is yet to take effective steps for redressing the grievances of the association members. He said that memorandum highlighting association demands was given many to top bureaucrats and higher department officials in the series of meetings with them but steps are still awaited by the department for fulfilling the year-long pending demands of the association.
Realising that Congress-led State Government is ignoring them, they staged protest outside the Narendranagar MlA Subodh Uniyal’s house at defence colony, Dehradun on Saturday. Seeing them MlA Uniyal, who is known as right hand of CM instructed police to remove them.