Demand Day organized across Jharkhand

Demand Day organized across Jharkhand

AICCTU organized a one-day dharna (sit-in) across Jharkhand on 18 May to demand resolution of problems faced by daily wagers and Corona frontline workers during Covid pandemic. AICCTU leaders and activists held dharna at the AICCTU office in Ranchi following all Covid protocols.

Dharna protests and hunger strikes were organized at industrial units, work places, workers' mohallas, and homes across the State in 16 districts. AICCTU State General Secretary Shubhendu Sen said that the lockdown in Jharkhand has deepened the livelihood crisis for workers. Closing down of construction work, interference by middlemen in MNREGA and non-payment of arrears due to workers has pushed the poor to the brink of starvation. If the government does not address these issues without delay, starvation will claim more lives than Corona.

A memorandum of demands was sent to the Chief Minister Hemant Soren, with the following demands:

1.  All the poor and workers' families should be provided ration of 10 kg rice per person and other essentials; Rs 10,000 should be credited in workers' bank accounts as Corona relief.

2.  200 days' work and Rs. 500 minimum daily wage under MNREGA for all rural and urban poor; insurance, special allowance and guarantee of safety arrangements for Corona frontline workers.

3.  Mobile Health Facility to ensure better health care for those living in workers' localities.