Bengaluru, Oct 7 (IANS Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly R. Ashoka on Wednesday demanded the immediate release of the disability honorarium withheld across the state for the past five months and urged the government to raise it to Rs 5,000 a month on the Andhra Pradesh model.
He has also written a letter to the Chief Secretary and the Revenue Department in this regard.
Ashoka expressed outrage over the withholding of the honorarium on the pretext of revision and verification, terming the move “inhuman” and unpardonable.
He said revision was an ongoing process and administrative lapses should not be a reason to stop financial assistance.
“Most persons with disabilities depend on this honorarium for medicines and monthly essential expenses,” Ashoka said in a letter to the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department.
He added that withholding the assistance was adversely affecting their daily lives.
Ashoka also sought job security for about 6,000 MRW, VRW and URW workers who have been serving for 19 years.
He said these workers play a key role at the rural level in taking government schemes and services to eligible beneficiaries.
It may be noted that MRW, VRW and URW workers are differently abled and senior citizen rehabilitation workers employed under the Department for the Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens in Karnataka.
He urged the government to examine, as a special case, the possibility of regularising their services in the Department for the Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens and place a proposal before the Cabinet.
Workers of the Nava Karnataka MRW/VRW/URW Disability Honorarium Workers’ Association, along with persons with disabilities, have been observing an indefinite fast near the Ramanagara Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Ashoka said he had visited the protest site as Leader of the Opposition and received their memorandum.
He criticised the government for failing to send any representative to meet the protesters.
In view of the health condition of those observing the fast, he urged the government to immediately send senior officials to the protest site, receive the memorandum and facilitate the withdrawal of the protest.
Ashoka said the issue was not merely about releasing the pending honorarium or providing job security to the workers, but also concerned the availability of human resources required for government services to reach people in rural areas effectively.
He asked the Chief Secretary to set a clear deadline for the Revenue Department and other concerned officials, convene an immediate meeting to consider the association’s demands and direct swift action.
He also sought a written communication on the action taken on the demands.
Among his key demands were the immediate release of the honorarium for all withheld months, raising the monthly amount to Rs 5,000, job security for about 6,000 MRW/VRW/URW workers, and examination of their regularisation in the department, besides fixing a deadline for the Revenue Department and deputing senior officials to the Ramanagara protest site.
–IANS
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