Bhubaneswar Gandhi Marg echoes with roars of CRPs who demand job regularization, salary hike

The Gandhi Marg from Bhubaneswar Railway Station to Odisha Assembly in Bhubaneswar turned into a war zone as Community Resource Persons (CRP) on Wednesday roared over various demands. The sky above the demonstration site turned pink as thousands of CRP staff staged a protest in their signature pink sarees.

Among their various demands include regularization of jobs, salary to be credited directly to their bank accounts, increase in salary, travel allowances (TA), and phone bill. The protesting women also demanded necessary compensation for their kin after their deaths.

“We are made to do almost all kinds of work. We are entitled to see who is deprived of latrine, ration card, electricity, house, and other basic necessities provided by the government. We ensure that all the schemes and benefits launched by the government reach the beneficiaries. We were also almost made to help SHG groups in all the work. This apart, we also do other online works. We literally do all the work, but are paid the lowest,” alleged Reena Parida, one of the protesters.

“So, we demand a fixed monthly salary. Under the previous government, we were paid Rs 6100 per month. However, that has now been reduced to Rs 3600 from February this year. So, we want our salary to be reinstated to Rs 6100 and later increased to more than Rs 15000,” she alleged.

“Furthermore, we are made to pay our own traveling and phone bills. So, we request the government to look into our TA and phone bills,” she added.

Similarly, another protester said, “We are often threatened by political parties, and senior officials to end our job. So, we request the Mohan Majhi government to regularize our jobs so that we have a secured future.”

“When our CRP members die, no compensation is provided. We give our lives for the service of the people and are neglected after our death. So, we demand necessary compensation for our kin after our deaths,” the protesting woman said.

Accused of helping the previous government in elections, a protesting CRP staff refuted the allegations and termed it baseless.

“If we worked for Naveen Patnaik, why he didn't become the CM? We wanted change. It is good to have change. So, it is not our duty to work for the government. Our duty is to serve the people,” the protestors said.