INTUC on VDF
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 08 2013:
Highlighting various difficulties faced by Village Defence Force (VDF) personnel, All India Trade union Congress (Intuc), Manipur has urged its Central leaders to prevail upon the prime Minister and union home Minister to intervene and redress the issue.
In a missive addressed to Intuc general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta, who is also a member of parliament, State unit Intuc general secretary L Sotinkumar conveyed that the VDF personnel, who had launched agitation since February 7, have taken a tough posture to prolong the movement in case their demands are not fulfilled at the earliest.
Pointing out that the VDF personnel are on strike demanding better working condition, social securities, better honorarium, etc, Sotinkumar said that approximately 10,500 VDF personnel presently posted in various parts of the State, including at far flung areas, towns, market places and public places, were actually selected by the State's Home Department for deployment at their respective villages to guard against the onslaught of insurgencies related non-state actors, active in both the rural and hill areas of Manipur.
Further pointing out that the honorarium amount of Rs 3000 per month paid to the VDFs is lower than the minimum wages fixed for workers by the Government of Manipur, he also maintained that apart from the meagre entitlement and poor working conditions, VDF personnel are ordered to work in the quarters and residences of State police officers as their personal servants without any bonus or social security benefits.
Sotinkumar also confided to the national leader that the striking VDF personnel approached Intuc, Manipur for support to the their movement, which was
consequently endorsed.
Terming agitation by the Home Department personnel as a historic one in the history of Manipur, he reiterated appeal to Gurudas to apprise the issue to appropriate authorities, including the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.