On the second day of the nation-wide strike, members of various trade union and employees associations took out a protest march in Dharwad demanding fulfilment of various demands and condemning the Centre’s anti-people policies.
As per the call given by Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU), workers from various sectors, including transport, telecommunication, banking, insurance and unorganised, took out the protest march from Kadapa Maidan to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad on Tuesday.
On reaching the Deputy Commissioner’s office, the protest march transformed into a protest meeting in which various trade union leaders strongly condemned the decisions of the Union Government.
Trade union leaders Siddanagouda Patil, Gangadhar Badiger, Mahesh Pattar, Ashok Barki, Bhuvana Ballari, Noorjahan Samuddi, Chennamma Dollin and others addressed the protestors. The protest march was led by B.N. Poojar, Stephen Jayachandra, Uday Gadagkar, Swapna Sullad and others.
ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists), Midday Meal workers, factory workers, contract workers, construction workers, street vendors and others were part of the protest march.
Addressing the protestors, the trade union leaders sought to know what the Union Government is doing to mitigate the hardships being faced by commoners because of soaring prices of essential commodities, fuel and LPG.
Their demands included reduction of excise duty on petroleum products, direct transfer of ₹7,500 per month and 10 kg of foodgrains to families that do not come under income tax regime, abolition of new labour codes, withdrawal of Electricity (Amendment) Bill, social security for unorganised sector workers, extension of MGNREGA to urban areas, protection and health insurance to frontline workers, among others.
Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Nitesh Patil met the protestors and received a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister from them and assured them of forwarding their demands to the State and Union Governments.
