Chhattisgarh miners halt Delhi march to meet Jaiswal

An 800-strong group of daily wagers working in Chhattisgarhs Koriya coalmines stopped at the Pokharpur home of coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday during their foot march to Delhi.

Jaiswal is currently in the US,and the workers handed over a 15-point memorandum to his spokesman Arun Dwivedi.

In Delhi,they intend to hold a protest outside the Parliament and meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to demand a hike in their basic salary.

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The workers say while the state Labour department has ordered a minimum pay of Rs 270 per day to them,they have been getting a mere Rs 80 for years. They want their basic salary to be raised from the current Rs 8,300 a month to Rs 21,325.

President of the Koyla Udyog Kamgaar Sangathan (Chhattisgarh),Mohan Lal Bargahi,said: Despite our repeated appeals,the authorities are not willing to take action against the contractors who are paying us less than one-third of our stipulated salary. There are currently over 86,000 daily wage employees in the coalmines of Koriya.

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Sriprakash Jaiswal

Day after PM Modi’s visit to the town, Manipur’s Churachandpur sees violent protest

India7 hr ago

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