Three Agitating Gaon Sathis Attempt Self Immolation In Odisha Capital, Police Foils Bid

Three Gaon Sathis, who were sitting on dharna among others at the Lower PMG Square in Bhubaneswar, poured kerosene and tried to immolate themselves on Wednesday.

However, the bid was foiled by the Police who later took the trio to the Capital Hospital for examination after overpowering them.

As per reports, hundreds of Gaon Sathis have been sitting on Dharna for the last two months demanding regularisation of job and increasing their salary to Rs 8,000 per month.

Speaking to OTV, a protesting Gaon Sathi said, “We have been sitting on hunger strike since the last three days, but the government has turned a blind eye to our plight.”

It is pertinent to mention here that on September 7, a six-member delegation of Gaon Sathi had submitted their 5-point charter of demands to Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena who had reportedly assured them to consider their demands.

Gaon Sathis are appointed at every revenue village under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Their job responsibility is to help engineers and officers as representative of the village for the proper execution of developmental schemes. They are permanent residents of the said village. The minimum educational qualification to become a Gaon sathi is 7th pass.