Dalit officer of Kumta Municipality traced in Belagavi after alleging harassment by chief officer
Bhatkal: The 25-year-old Dalit Revenue Inspector (RI) of Kumta Town Municipality, who went missing earlier this week after accusing his senior officer of harassment and caste discrimination, has been traced in Belagavi.
The officer, Venkatesh Ramesh Harijan, a resident of Harijanakeri in Koteshwara, Bhatkal taluk, had reportedly left his home on Tuesday night without informing anyone. Before going missing, he had sent a WhatsApp message to a group of municipal members and staff, alleging that M.R. Swamy, the Chief Officer (CO) of Kumta TMC, had been mentally and caste-wise harassing him for a long time.
Venkatesh’s mother, Asha Ramesh Harijan, later filed a missing person complaint at the Bhatkal Town Police Station, stating that her son was under severe mental pressure due to humiliation and misconduct by his superior. She alleged that Swamy often used insulting and casteist language towards her son, targeting him because of his Dalit background.
In a letter believed to have been written before his disappearance, Venkatesh accused the CO of misusing the name of Kumta MLA Dinakar Shetty to justify illegal activities. He further alleged that Swamy had tried to force him into corrupt practices, including demanding a bribe of Rs 4 lakh and manipulating official documents by altering government building records from the ‘B account’ to the ‘A account’.
The letter was reportedly sent to a colleague on WhatsApp shortly before he went missing.
Following the complaint, Bhatkal police began an intensive search operation. According to reports, Venkatesh later contacted his family from Belagavi and informed them that he was safe. Acting promptly, a police team from Bhatkal travelled to Belagavi, where they located him at the Market Police Station.
The incident has stirred strong reactions among Kumta Municipality staff and local residents, who have condemned the alleged misconduct of the Chief Officer. The employees’ association has submitted a memorandum to the Municipal President, demanding the immediate transfer of M.R. Swamy and a probe into the allegations.
Police sources said a detailed inquiry will be conducted into the claims of mental and caste-based harassment made by the Revenue Inspector.
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ASHA workers threaten indefinite strike from Feb 27 over rationalisation order, pending demands
Bengaluru: ASHA workers in Karnataka have warned of launching an indefinite strike from February 27, protesting a health department order to rationalise the workforce and alleging that long-pending demands have not been addressed.
The Karnataka State Joint ASHA Workers’ Association criticised the department’s decision to increase the population assigned to each ASHA worker, arguing that it violates existing norms and would lead to large-scale job losses. According to current norms, one ASHA worker is assigned for every 1,000 individuals. Under the current rationalisation plan, the allotted population in rural regions has been increased to up to 2,000, while in metropolitan areas with populations more than 50,000, the number has been raised from 1,000 to a minimum of 2,500 and a maximum of 3,000.
Deccan Herald quoted D Nagalakshmi, state secretary of the ASHA Union affiliated to AITUC, as saying the department had conveyed that an honorarium of ₹10,000 could not be ensured unless the population coverage per worker was increased. She alleged that workers were effectively being asked to accept higher workloads while excess ASHAs would be removed. “This would render nearly 7,000 to 8,000 ASHA workers jobless, and such a move is being carried out only in Karnataka,” she said.
At present, the state government pays ASHA workers a monthly honorarium of ₹5,000, while the Centre provides performance-based incentives. Workers said accessing these incentives has become difficult as data must be entered on the ASHA portal by primary health community officers, but vacancies in these posts have not been filled.
The workers have also submitted a set of pre-Budget demands, seeking an increase in the combined state and central incentives to ₹15,000 and enhancement of the state honorarium to ₹ 8,000, in line with promises made in the Congress election manifesto. Other demands include a lump-sum retirement benefit on the lines of West Bengal, creation of a corpus fund to meet treatment expenses of ASHA workers suffering from serious illnesses with reimbursement provisions, and payment of a fixed monthly honorarium for up to three months during recovery from severe illness.
ASHA workers had staged an indefinite protest in January over similar issues. On the fourth day of the agitation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah intervened and assured the workers that their demands would be met.
