The high voltage drama by agitating contractual employees of all three power corporations continued on third consecutive day on Monday with agitators decided to come down from the top of mobile tower only after their year long pending demands would be fulfilled by the State Government.
However, the administration breathed a sigh of relief when the protesters climbed down from the tower on Monday evening after receiving assurance that delegation of association will meet Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, heavy police forces have deployed at protest site in order to avoid any untoward incident due to the ongoing agitation by the workers.Highly annoyed over the lethargic approach of the Congress-led State Government for not fulfilling the year long pending demands of agitators, four agitators climbed up mobile tower near Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun on Saturday.
Since no fruitful conclusion was drawn out of the bilateral talks with the district magistrate on Saturday, the agitators have completely refused to come down from the mobile tower. Scores of 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) also gathered at protest site and also raised anti Government slogans.
They lamented that despite the fact that memorandum highlighting their demands was given many times to officials and public representatives, the association’s year long demands are still pending.
They also alleged that association office bearers were also given assurance months back their demands would be fulfilled within three months but despite the fact eight months have passed, steps are yet to be
initiated by the State Government for fulfilling the year long pending demands of association.
The agitators have cleared that they will withdraw their agitation only after their year long pending demands would be fulfilled by the department. Meanwhile, additional police force and GVKEMRI-108 service ambulance was also deployed at the protest site in order to avoid any untoward incident. It is also noteworthy that Kanchan Joshi, Darshan Bhandari, Randheer Pundir and Kusloanand have climbed up the mobile tower near Vidhan Sabha on Saturday.
While speaking to The Pioneer, Vinod Kavi, State General Secretary, UVSKS said that 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.