Mysuru: The contract employees of Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited (MPVL), alleging that they have been removed from their jobs, staged a protest in front of MPVL at Bannimantap this morning demanding the Management to reinstate them. The protest was held under the banner of Mysuru Division United Industrial Workers Union. 

Protesters alleged that they have been working at MPVL for 8 to 25 years and the Management, after giving the contract to a new agency, removed 14 contract workers all of a sudden without even serving a notice. They also alleged that bonus has not been given for 18 years and a case has been registered in this regard and the sacked contract workers are being pressurised to withdraw the case. 

The protesters demanded reinstatement of sacked workers, provide job security and conduct probe into non-payment of bonus among other demands.  

Meanwhile, the DC’s Office in Siddarthanagar became the venue for a slew of protests yesterday as various organisations staged protests seeking fulfilment of their demands.  

In the first protest, tribal community members, under the banner of All India Jan Adhikar Suraksha Committee (AIJASC) staged a massive demonstration condemning the delay in distribution of nutrition kits and sought fulfilment of demands. 

The demands included immediate collective distribution of nutrition kits for the months of April, May and June, maintenance of quality of contents in the kits, distribution of additional 2-month kit this year, distribution of 2-month kit that has been carried over from the previous financial year and to provide infrastructure such as houses, roads, toilets, drinking water, power supply, etc., to tribal hamlets, among others. 

In another protest, members of the Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) staged a demonstration demanding banishment of all the culprits from the State who were responsible for defacing/ vandalising the statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar recently. 

Alleging that miscreants had vandalised Dr. Ambedkar statue at Masanapura village in Yelandur taluk of Chamarajanagar district a couple of days ago and defacement of the statue of Dr. Ambedkar at Vajamangala in Mysuru taluk last year, the protesters demanded stern action against the culprits who had maligned ‘Father of the Constitution’ by such heinous acts. 

DSS leaders Bannahalli Somanna, Mahadevaswamy, Raju Madapura, Siddaraju and Nagarathnamma were present. 

In yet another protest, members of Mysuru District Committee of Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) staged a demonstration against rising prices of essential commodities, LPG gas and fuel. 

Condemning multiple hikes in the prices of fuel, domestic and commercial LPG gas cylinders and soaring prices of essential commodities and food, the protesters maintained that increasing prices had hit hard the daily life of commoners and has been a huge burden for poor sections of the society. They demanded that both the Union and State Governments cut down taxes on cess on fuels and LPG and thus reduce the burden on the common man. 

RYA office-bearers Ravikumar, Shivanna and Chowdahalli Javaraiah were present.