Rehabilitation workers stage protest seeking regularisation of services

Members of the Vikalachetanara Gouravadhana Karyakarthara Sangha, an association of workers engaged by the State government for the rehabilitation of physically challenged and senior citizens, staged a protest seeking regularisation of services and increased wages in Belagavi on Monday.

They said that the Department for the Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens has engaged over 6,800 workers for the rehabilitation of physically challenged and senior citizens across the State.

They include Village Rehabilitation Workers (VRW), Urban Rehabilitation Workers (URW) and Multi-purpose Rehabilitation Workers (MRW). While VRWs and URWs, working in villages and urban pockets, respectively, get an honorarium of ₹9,000 a month, MRWs, who work at the taluk level, get ₹15,000 a month. Differently-abled persons are selected for these posts.

“We have been working for 18 years, but we are deprived of service benefits. Our services are not regularised. We do not get remunerative wages and there is no job security or allowances. We ensure that the physically challenged and senior citizens get government facilities. We also help such persons vote in elections. We help them get government benefits. But we are not getting proper benefits. We do not have an office in rural areas. We have to bring benefits to the doorsteps of the disabled and elderly,” they said.

They submitted a memorandum to Minister Muniyappa. He said that he will bring their problems to the attention of the Chief Minister and try to help them in various ways.