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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MP: Woman, lover conspire to get husband killed; police looking for contract killer
Dhar (MP) (PTI): A 25-year-old woman and her lover have been arrested in the district for allegedly conspiring to kill her husband by hiring a contract killer, police said on Thursday.
The case was solved within 36 hours of the murder though the woman initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that robbers killed her husband, an official said.
Dev Krishna Purohit (28) was stabbed to death on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at his house in Gondikheda Charan village, about 60 km from here.
Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi told reporters that accused Priyanka Purohit (25) was married to Dev Krishna when she was around 15 years old. Priyanka moved to her matrimonial home after attaining adulthood but was unwilling to live with her husband, leading to frequent disputes between them.
During investigation, it emerged that she was in a relationship with Kamlesh (32), the SP said.
The duo allegedly hatched a plan to kill Dev Krishna and hired a man identified as Surendra for Rs 1 lakh do the job, he said
After Dev Krishna was killed, Priyanka told police that unidentified persons broke into the house, attacked her husband with a sharp weapon while holding her captive in another room, and fled with valuables.
But the inconsistencies in her statements raised suspicion, and eventually she confessed to hatching the murder conspiracy, the SP said.
While she and Kamlesh were arrested, police are looking for the contract killer, the official added.
