Pressing for their long-pending demands of re-employment and proper compensation under the Labour Laws in force, around 2,000 retrenched mine workers began their three-day padayatra from Sandur to Ballari at the APMC in Sandur on Tuesday. The march is scheduled to culminate on the premises of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Ballari on Thursday.
Their demands include payment of compensation of ₹5 lakh to each retrenched worker for violation of Labour Laws and arbitrary termination, disbursement of ₹5 lakh financial assistance to each retrenched mine worker to take up self-employment, allotment of 5 acres of farmland to each of the landless worker, offering a monthly pension of ₹5,000 to each worker who has attained the age of superannuation and allotment of a residential plot each and offering of financial assistance to build a proper house.
Flagging off the padayatra, along with actor Chetan Ahimsa at Sandur APMC, activist Medha Patkar urged the workers deprived of their lawful rights to persistently continue the struggles till they get justice.
“Successive governments are trying to offer minimum wages as an eyewash for farmers. But, we are not satisfied with mere minimum wages. We want a legitimate share of our labour. It is because of labour by workers that the mining companies are making huge profits and the workers should get their share in profits,” she said.
Commending the mine workers for taking up the historic struggle for getting their rights, Ms. Patkar said that Ballari is infamously known for illegal mining and the resultant plunder of rich natural resources and devastation of environment. And, the padayatra will also show the other ugly face of Ballari, i.e., exploitation of workers for profit.
“Whenever the oppressed and the exploited class are up in arms in protest against exploitation and injustice, the oppressors work to divide the agitating class along caste, religion and other cultural identities and calm down the protest so that they can continue their plunder. We should not fall prey to such tactics but continue to fight with unity. It is the fight for our survival. It is the fight for saving our Constitution that guarantees our rights,” Ms. Patkar said.
