Dalit sanitation women workers protest against DRDO Bengaluru over ‘unlawful termination’
demand reinstating them
Bengaluru: Around 61 women safai karamcharis (Sanitation workers) staged a demonstration in front of the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) building, a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bengaluru on Monday, protesting against their sudden termination. The workers were abruptly terminated in March 2024 stating that their services were no longer needed, as reported by TheNewsMinute.com.
The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), which has been advocating on behalf of the workers, claims that the women were targeted for raising concerns about extortion and mistreatment by their contractor. According to the AICCTU, since 2019, the contractor had been illegally demanding a monthly cut of ₹3,000 to ₹4,200 from the workers' wages, claiming the funds were to be shared between the contracting agency and CABS supervisors.
Despite complaints to CABS officials, no action was allegedly taken to stop the alleged extortion. The situation came to a head in October 2023 when the workers lodged a complaint with the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), who intervened and stopped the illegal collections. However, on March 23, 2024, when the workers returned to their jobs, they were informed that their services were no longer required due to the arrival of a new contractor, Indian Security Agency.
Following the incident, The AICCTU filed a complaint with the Karnataka State Commission for Safai Karamcharis (KSCSK), which ruled in favor of the workers and ordered their reinstatement on May 9, 2024. Despite this directive and further orders from the state’s social welfare department and the Minister for Social Welfare, CABS has refused to comply, preventing the women from resuming their duties.
Meanwhile, the protesting women are now demanding immediate reinstatement of their duties and state that their termination was made in act of retaliation for challenging the extortion practices.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
