The NTR district committee of the Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham staged a dharna demanding 40 per cent summer allowance for the workers and additional person days for those who have completed 100 person days, in front of the District Water and Management Agency (DWAMA) at Gollapudi near Vijayawada on Wednesday. The Upadhi workers raised slogans demanding a hike in the budgetary allocation. They also wanted a rise in the existing wage of Rs.272 per day to Rs.500.
Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham State general secretary V Venkateswarlu, addressing the dharna, said that during the summer, the government should pay 40 per cent additional wage to every Upadhi worker. Earlier, the Central government had paid three types of summer allowances, he said. Also, additional person days should be sanctioned to the workers who have completed their target of 100 days, he demanded.
He came down heavily on the BJP-led Central government for gradually reducing the budgetary allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme. The Centre allotted Rs. 89,000 crore for the scheme in the 2022-23 fiscal year, however, it was reduced to Rs.60,000 crore in 2023-24. It had an impact on the Upadhi workers and automatically, the person days decreased, he added.
“Earlier, the government provided several facilities like tents, drinking water, medical kits, buttermilk etc. for the workers. That is not happening now and the workers are facing a lot of difficulties in the summer season,” he said.
Venkateswarlu demanded that the governments generate bills based on the work done in a particular week. In some districts, bills are generated for three to four days and they should include the remaining working days. The State government should implement a manual system to record attendance instead of the online one, he said.
Later, he, NTR district committee president V Naga Raju and general secretary K Kalyan submitted a representation to DWAMA Project Director J Sunitha.
AP Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham leaders P Ananda Rao, Jamalamma, Anjaneyulu and others were present.
