Bhubaneswar: The assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Tuesday as opposition members created a ruckus over the alleged non-payment of salaries to women workers under the Mission Shakti department.
Even as the BJP urged others not to mislead the women, BJD members rushed to the well shouting slogans against the govt, forcing the speaker to adjourn the House till 11.30 am. Leader of the Opposition, Naveen Patnaik, also hit out at the BJP govt on the issue.
“BJP govt in the state is conspiring to stop the salaries of more than 70 lakh Mission Shakti women. I strongly condemn this. We have always supported the empowerment of Mission Shakti women. We will continue to support the Mission Shakti movement,” said Naveen.
Refuting the allegation, deputy chief minister Pravati Parida said, “This matter was discussed in the assembly on Monday. Nobody should mislead the women on the issue. Whatever is needed in the interest of women will be done. I appeal to the women that there is no need to hit the streets by getting swayed by the opinions of others.”
For the last couple of days women have been staging protest in the city over unpaid salaries. According to the opposition members, the protesting women are spending winter nights under the open sky.
Several MLAs of the BJD went to the protest site and joined the demonstration being staged by All India Gram Panchayat Level Federation (GPLF) members. There are about 62,700 GPLF members who are engaged as community support staff (CSS) and community resource persons (CRP) like master bookkeepers, bank mitras, krishi mitras and prani mitras, and provide service to the community. These CSS get a monthly salary ranging between Rs 6,500 and Rs 10,500, depending on their work, sources said.
“We have not received salary for the past nine months, but we are continuing to provide services to the people against all odds. The govt must consider our genuine demands and clear our dues at the earliest,” said Nirupama Nayak, president of the All Odisha GPLF Karmi Sangha.
Apart from their salary, the agitating women are also demanding regularisation of jobs, travel allowance and mobile bill reimbursement, identity cards from Mission Shakti, employee provident fund and employees’ state insurance (ESI) and other benefits.