MORE than 800 Rasoiyas under the AIPWA banner organized a march at Sitapur on 1 March 2019 from the Eye Hospital to Lalbagh Chowk and staged a dharna in front of the Vikas Bhavan. Before the meeting commenced, all the Rasoiyas paid tribute to the Pulwama martyrs and said ‘No More Pulwama’. Addressing the meeting, AIPWA State President Krishna Adhikari said that the country stands at a crucial and dangerous crossroads today. The basic and essential issues of the people are being thrust aside and they are being misled by false promises and ‘jumlas’. Comrade Meena said that heinous crimes against girl children have been perpetrated under the BJP government, from Kathua to Unnao, from the Muzaffarpur shelter home to Deoria. In an appalling display of shamelessness, the BJP came out on the streets in defence of the rapists. Rasoiya Organization District President Sarojini said that the Modi-Yogi governments’ women-empowerment claims are hollow and false. Even today the government is extracting labour at Rs 33 per day whereas the Minimum Wage Act clearly states that the minimum wage for any government work must be not less than Rs 256. The government is violating this law. She said that Rasoiyas are paid Rs 6000, Rs 7000, and Rs 9000 in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry respectively. She asked why Rasoiyas cannot be paid similarly in Uttar Pradesh, pointing out that the MDM Scheme is a World Bank funded Central scheme.
At the conclusion of the meeting, a 9-point memorandum addressed to the Collector was submitted to the City Magistrate.
