BHUBANESWAR 01-Mar-2011 250
They set up everything for sportspersons and officials to practice, perform and earn success for the state, but they themselves stay neglected for decades. This is one of the ironies of sports in Orissa. Disappointed for continuous negligence by the authorities, the DLR workers of State Government-run sports hostels and users of stadiums have taken an extreme step to stop work from March 16 in protest against non-fulfillment of their demands, including regularisation jobs.
Trainees of sports hostels and users of stadiums are likely to face inconvenience because of the stop-work decision of the State Sports and Youth Services Employees Association (SSYSEA), but the association general secretary Raj Kishore Sahu has appealed to the sports fraternity to bear with them.
According to sources, as many as 109 persons have been working on daily wage basis for the past 25 years. These work-force includes groundsmen, sweepers, cooks, electricians and peons. But despite rendering important services for the promotion of sports in the state, they are getting only Rs 90 to Rs 116 per day as wages. In this meager income they are unable arrange two square meals a day let alone affording other basic needs, including education for their children.
Repeated representations to make them regular employees or work-charge of the Sports and Youth Services Department have failed to yield any result. ``Related file is being repeatedly sent back without sufficient reasons. Under the circumstances, we have decided to stop work from March 16,`` explained Sahu.
Besides regular employment, he demanded dress allowance and accommodation for these workers inside the stadium. ``DLR workers are forced to work 16 hours a day at different sports hostels and stadiums. This practice should stop,`` he added.
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PHOTO: DLR workers unite at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to express their resentment.
