Malkangiri: In a unique demonstration, members of the Odisha Amala Sangha, Malkangiri chapter, on Friday sold tea, pakora, and kakara outside the Malkangiri district Collector’s office to press for their demand to a raise to Rs 4200 from the present grade pay of Rs 1900.
The Odisha Amala Sangh has been agitating peacefully over their one-point demand since June 1 this year. During this period, the members of the Amala Sangh refrained from work, but undertook various social activities like organizing blood donation camps, launching a cleanliness drive at the district headquarters hospital (DHH), and donating blood for the victims of the three-train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district on June 2. The members of the Sangh also donated Rs 50,000 to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
The Amala Sangh has also received the support of the district Bar Association and the local journalists association who showed solidarity by participating in the agitations and demonstrations staged by the Sangh outside the district Collector’s office.
However, their more than a fortnight-long agitation and public outreach programmes are yet to yield the desired results. Amala Sangh member Lakshmidhar Das told the media, “We have been agitating peacefully and participated in various public outreach programmes to draw the attention of the state government towards our demand. But the government seems to have turned a blind eye towards our one-point demand.”
Meanwhile, as work in many government offices here has come to a standstill owing to the agitation of the Odisha Amala Sangh, the members of the Sangh say that they are finding it difficult to run their families with their meager income.
