Mangaluru: Zomato workers sit dharna seeking fulfillment of demands
Mangaluru, Jan 20: Seeking fulfillment of their demands, Zomato workers staged a protest at Balmatta ground here on Sunday afternoon.
The agitators said that the company has stopped giving incentive to the workers for the last few months and restrictions were being imposed day by day due to which they were finding it difficult to work in the the company, they said.
Workers leader Abdul Rahman said that if the workers died in accidents, they were not being given any compensation. In the beginning the company said that it would give compensation if the workers admitted in hospital for 12 hours. Though some workers have met with accidents and got treatment, the company has not given any insurance benefits to the victims, he alleged.
Some workers have received message regarding the new rules and restrictions yesterday at 11 pm and some others have not received any information. There were more than 300 Zomato workers in Mangaluru. Though company CEO visited the office and met the workers, nothing was improved. If their demands were not fulfilled, they would not attend the work, he said.
Another worker Nouman said that before joining the company, it has assured of providing incentives, Referral bonus, Driving bonus and compensation for accidents. But now, it has not maintained its promises.
If something happened to any worker, they have to collect amount from the workers to give compensation. They have been working in the company for the last four months. Recently, the company has hired new workers who have been introducing fresh restrictions and norms.
Earlier, they were given Rs 30 per trip and it was reduced to Rs 25. Moreover, the company has been putting pressure on the workers to get ratings from customers. But majority of the customers won't give ratings due to which the company has been posing problems to workers, he said.
Another worker said that sometimes, customers place orders online and cancel their orders for some reasons. But the company has been compensating the loss by cutting the workers salary. Though the workers have been working from 8am to 11pm in traffic, the company has been cheating the workers, he alleged.
No response
When Varthabharati tried to contact company heads Rakesh and Abhishek over phone for several times, they have not responded.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Will not accept 'Veer Savarkar Award' nor attend the ceremony: Shashi Tharoor
Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi (PTI): Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday categorically stated that he would not accept an award named after VD Savarkar, nor attend a related event, even as a senior party colleague wanted the Congress MP to not accept any honour named after the ideologue whom he claimed "bowed before the British."
Tharoor said that he will not accept the "Veer Savarkar Award" and also won't attend the event where it will be presented in the absence of clarifications about its nature or the organisation presenting it.
Tharoor, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram, also said that "it was irresponsible on the part of the organisers to announce my name without my having agreed to receive it".
Earlier in the day, Congress leader K Muraleedharan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that no party member, including Tharoor, should accept any award in the name of Veer Savarkar "as he had bowed before the British."
Muraleedharan said that he does not believe that Tharoor will accept the award as doing so would insult and embarrass the Congress party.
Tharoor later told reporters in the national capital that he heard about the award on Tuesday and that he was not going for the ceremony.
"I heard about it yesterday only. I am not going. I am not here," he said in response to a question on Wednesday on his participation in the award ceremony.
Subsequently, in a post on social media platform 'X', the Congress MP said, "In the absence of clarifications about the nature of the award, the organisation presenting it or any other contextual details, the question of my attending the event today or accepting the award does not arise."
He further said that he learned from media reports that he was named as a recipient of the award when he went to Kerala to vote in the local body polls on Tuesday.
He said he had clarified then that he was neither aware of, nor had accepted, such an award.
"Despite that, today in Delhi, some media outlets continue to ask the same question. Therefore, I am issuing this statement to clarify the matter unequivocally," Tharoor added.
Following Tharoor's statement, Aji Krishnan, the secretary of the Highrange Rural Development Society (HRDS) India which is presenting the award, told a TV channel that the Congress MP was informed about the matter well in advance.
He said that representatives of HRDS India and the chairman of the award jury had met Tharoor at his residence to invite him and the MP had asked for a list of the other recipients of the award.
"We gave him the list. He has not yet informed us that he will not come for the event. Perhaps he is scared as the Congress has made it an issue," Krishnan claimed.
Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev said it was Tharoor's decision whether to accept the award or not.
Tharoor was chosen as one of the recipients of the inaugural Veer Savarkar International Impact Award 2025, instituted by HRDS India, on Wednesday in New Delhi.
On Tuesday, he had said that he heard about the award through the media and that he was not aware who was giving it.
"I am not aware of anything related to the award. Let me find out what it is," he had said.
