Bhubaneswar, Dec 9: Thousands of women working as support staff under the Mission Shakti department staged a demonstration here at Mahatma Gandhi Road in Lower PMG Square over nonpayment of salary for the last nine months.
The protesting women under the banner of All Odisha GPLF (Gram Panchayat Level Federation) Mission Shakti workers and Biju Shramik Samukhya Sangha staged the protest demanding immediate release of their pending salaries.
The state government has failed to pay our salaries for the last nine months despite frequent appeals and petitions. Having no other option we have called a protest, the agitators said.
The Odisha government has not given us our remuneration for the last nine months. We are going through financial crisis. We appeal Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to address our problems at the earliest, said a protester.
The president of Biju Shramik Samukhya Sangha Prafulla Samal and Mayor of Cuttack Subhash Singh lend their support to the agitators at the protest site.
Similarly, the opposition BJD raised the issue in Odisha Assembly today and demanded immediate release of their salaries.
The issue was raised in the House during Zero Hour by Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik. She criticised the state's BJP government for stopping the salary of about 60,000 women working as supporting staff to different women self-help groups across the state.
Several other BJD members supported her and demanded immediate release of their salaries.
