Chandigarh, May 1
Hundreds of Congress workers and labourers today staged a massive demonstration in support of their long pending demands, outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to mark the Labour Day. Led by the Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the demonstration coincided with the special session convened by the AAP government to mark the Labour Day today.
Speaking on the occasion, Warring said that the “special session” was a mere drama on part of the Punjab government as it had done nothing during the last four years when it had a chance to bring in laws for the welfare of the labourers. He said, holding a special session at the fag end of its term has only exposed the AAP that it only wanted a drama in the name of labourers. He said, the actual labourers were struggling and protesting in the dharna today while the AAP government was taking token vows for labourers’ welfare.
Warring demanded that the minimum daily wage should be raised to Rs 750. Besides he said for the labourers the monthly wages should be between Rs 15000 to Rs 17,000 per month, for the semi-skilled it should be between Rs 19,000 to Rs 20,000 and for the skilled labourers it should be between Rs 20,000 to Rs 22,000.
The PCC president said that nobody had any doubts that the AAP had held this session to divert the public attention in the name of labourers. He said, its time is already up as hardly a few months more have been left of its tenure. He promised that once the Congress forms government after the elections in the state, it will ensure minimum Rs 750 daily wage for labourers and will consider all other demands sympathetically.
Warring said that the Congress has always worked for the welfare of the labourers and the working class citing the example of MGNREGA, which was a first of its kind law in the world that guaranteed 100 days work for unskilled labourers across the country.
