KSAPS' contractual workers to strike indefinitely for salary hike and job regularization

BENGALURU: They provide the healing touch to those shunned and stigmatized by the society only to be denied, in return, even subsistence wages.
Wondering what use is labour that is not even enough to sustain it, contract employees of the Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society (KSAPS) are on an indefinite strike from November 20 at Freedom Park. They are pressing the health and family welfare department to meet their demands for a salary hike and job regularization.
Sunitha Muthanna, district superintendent, KSAPS, says, “We deal with not only critical patients, but also those socially stigmatized. We face our own health risk as well. Yet we try to do our best and help those affected by HIV. If government does not pay us well and regularize our job, how is it possible for us to toil without any reward. We too have families to look after.”
“We don’t get provident fund, adequate maternity leave and have no job security. We will continue with our strike till the department meets our demands,” she added.
“About 99% of employees of KSAPS are on contract, but that should not make our hard work valueless. Over 2,300 contract workers have not been paid their salaries for nine months. Prior to that, we used to get a minimal amount that was hardly enough to keep our body and soul together,” said Kattimani P, state president of KSAPS.
“The central government is supposed to allocate Rs 117 crore, but lands up in giving only Rs 77 crore. The state government which should be providing us with the remaining amount turns deaf ear. None of our centres should be shut down due to poor funding,” he added.
“While the counsellors working under tobacco programme start their job with Rs 25,000 as salary, how come the counsellors of KSAPS get only Rs 13,000?” asked Prabhudev BM, another contractual worker under KSAPS.
Although health minister UT Khader visited the contract workers on Monday and called for a meeting with the project director of the Health and Family Welfare Department, the exact date and time was not fixed, said the contractual workers.