Engineering workers stage protest at Ongole Municipal Corporation

Ongole: The engineering workers in the Ongole Municipal Corporation staged a protest in front of the corporation on Wednesday under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Municipal Workers and Employees Federation and the CITU demanding solution to their long pending issues.

Speaking at the protest presided over by the Ongole town president of APMWEF Ch Ankababu, the CITU district general secretary Cheekati Srinivasa Rao said there are about 300 workers in nine categories of engineering works in the OMC. By listing them under Andhra Pradesh Corporation for outsourced services, he alleged that the government snatched away the welfare programmes from the workers. He said that by paying just Rs 15,000 as salary to the outsourced workers but showing them as government employees the government made them ineligible for welfare pensions, Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena, Jagananna Cheyutha, and others.

He demanded the chief minister to keep his promise of regularising the outsourcing and contract employees immediately, provide equal salary for equal work to the workers, make the employees eligible for welfare schemes, pay TA, DA, health and risk allowances, provide retirement benefits and gratuity pensions, and announce promotions to the qualified workers.

Later, the leaders presented a representation to Mayor Gangada Sujatha demanding her initiative to resolve their issues. CITU town secretary T Mahesh, municipal union leader Sriram Srinivasa Rao, workers union leaders M Srinivasa Rao, K Venkatarao, Kunchala Jalaiah and others also participated in the programme.