TTD slammed for exploitation of workers

Tirupati: Speakers at a round table conference held here on Sunday on `Violation of employees and workers’ rights in TTD’ strongly demanded the TTD management to stop exploitation of labour and adhere to labour laws. The meet also resolved to take a signature campaign on Monday protesting the TTD violating labour rights and laws and also seeking it to dispense with the outsourcing and contract system. 

MLC Y Sreenivasulu Reddy said that the violation of labour rights and laws going on unchecked in TTD for the past eight years affecting about 13,000 employees working on outsourcing and contract basis in various TTD departments.  The case of the 4000-5000 employees working under
Sulabh is more pathetic as none of them have ESI and PF facilities and were forced to work for more than eight hours, he said.

CITU district general secretary K Murali said that one of the contractor (out sourcing agency) K Bhaskar Naidu, claiming as close relative of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has been harassing workers and forcing them to work for more than eight hours, but no action was taken on him despite representations and protests. He said the woman health and sanitation workers have no facility even for changing dress at their work place and were often subjected to harassment.

Even the regular employees are not free from the raw deal meted out by the TTD management which is delaying their demands like house sites, better medical facility and also conducting election to the TTD Employees Association, the CITU leader said. He demanded the continuation of workers working in Annadanam and job security to the forest workers, Tirumala vendors, Purana Pandits and Annamacharya Project employees who have been working for 10-20 years in TTD.

The meet adopted seven demands for the welfare of the contract and outsourcing employees. They include declaring all the national holidays and government holidays as paid holidays to all workers, issuing of ID card, Extension of PF and ESI to all employees, Over Time allowance for working more than 8 hours, Darshan facility to the employees with families in Tirumala temple, recording the service details of all outsourcing and contract employees to enhance their wages based on experience and providing other facilities.

The conference also set up a committee headed by retired district judge Gurappa and TTD employee’s leader Muniraja as secretary to extend support to the TTD employees struggle to end exploitation. The meet was attended by the representatives of more than two dozen employees’ associations in TTD including Medical and Health, Forest, SVBC,  Kalyanakatta (tonsure centres) and also trade unions CITU, AITUC  and INTUC.