Assam: Workers demand wages, not honorarium from government

Hundreds of labourers such as ASHA and Anganwadi workers and farmers from different parts of Assam gathered in Guwahati on February 11 demanding ‘mazuri’ (wages) and not ‘manoni’ (honorarium) from the government and employers.

They also criticized the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre and said that the  government has taken away the rights of the working class. They were participating in an open meeting on the first day of the 10th conference of Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI) at the Sonaram School playground.

Addressing the gathering, veteran CPI(M) leader Hemen Das alleged that the Modi government since 2014 has adopted more anti-worker steps than any other government in the country ever. 

“That is why everyone, right from the ASHA and Anganwadi workers to the mid-day meal cooks, has now come out demanding their due. They want their jobs to be regularised so that they can get the associated benefits. “They are asking for their mazuri and not manoni,” the former MLA asserted. CPI(M) legislator Manoranjan Talukdar said people from all parts of the state attended the programme. 

“The Modi government is taking away the rights of the people. Wherever they can, the general people are now gathering and protesting the anti-workers policies of the government,” Talukdar added. 

Trade union and Left party leaders from different states attended the conference, an organiser said.