CITU activists stage dharna demanding higher pay

Kakinada: Centre of Indian Trade Unions East Godavari activists staged dharna in front of Collector's office here on Friday, demanding that the government pay Rs18,000 salary per month to them and provide job security for panchayat workers. They also demanded that the government implement GO No 132 and 142.

The activists led by the CITU district president M Veera Laxmi and general secretary Ch Rajkumar raised slogans against the government. Rajkumar said that 27,000 village workers and 30,000 green ambassadors in the state were working in the villages by cleaning the roads, maintaining sanitation, cleaning drainages and others under dangerous conditions.

Though they fall ill, they have to do their job for keeping the village clean. He alleged that they were not being paid salaries for six months and the money lenders also don't give loans to them as the workers were not able to pay interests.

He said that though the government instructed the panchayats to pay salaries before fifth of every month, the panchayats were not paying salaries to them properly.