Daily wagers' stir for job regularisation in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: More than 300 daily labour roll (DLR) employees, who have been working for more than a decade in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), on Friday staged a demonstration in front of the BeMC office demanding regularisation of their jobs.
Under the banner of Berhampur Pura Asthai Karmachari Sangh, several employees submitted a memorandum to the BeMC mayor and commissioner on their demands.
"We welcome the state government's recent decision to abolish contractual appointments and regularise 57,000 such posts. At the same time, we also demand regularisation of our jobs," said D Prakash Rao, president of the sangh.
Mayor Sanghamitra Dalai assured she would forward their demands to the government after discussing with the BeMC commissioner.
Most of the DLRs are working in sanitary, electrical and driving sections of BeMC. Several of them have been working since 1993. "We have demanded regularisation of our jobs many times. The government had also assured to consider our demand. But no action has been taken," said Subhendu Sundar Nayak, secretary of the sangh. "We will be forced to go on agitation if the government does not listen to our demands," he added.
Laxmi Narayan Nayak, who has been working as a DLR for around two decades, said even though they work like regular employees, they are deprived of many government benefits. "We have only been getting the daily wage for several years," said Nayak.
Rao said several such employees have died waiting for regularisation of their jobs. "Several others will retire soon. They are facing a difficult time maintaining their family with a meagre income. We urge the government to abolish the DLR system and regularise their jobs," he said.