Members of the All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) on Tuesday (June 2) submitted memoranda to Social Welfare, Scheduled Tribes Welfare, Backward Classes Welfare and Minority Welfare department officials in Ballari, as well as the director of the Ballari Medical College and Research Centre (BMCRC), urging immediate implementation of revised wage rates for workers employed at hostels and the medical institution.

Later in the day, AIUTUC leaders said that the officials concerned promised the delegation that appropriate steps would be taken at the earliest to implement the revised wages.

“Trade unions had been consistently demanding higher wages for workers facing severe economic hardships. The AIUTUC, both independently and jointly with other labour organisations, had organised several agitations, including large-scale protests during the Belagavi legislature session, seeking wage revision,” AIUTUC district president A. Devadas said in his address to the workers after the submission of memoranda.

Mr. Devadas said labour organisations had been demanding that the minimum wage be fixed at ₹36,000 in view of rising prices and increasing living costs. However, employers had opposed the proposal and the government had delayed issuing orders, allegedly under pressure from managements, he claimed.

He said a joint platform of labour unions had called for a State-wide agitation on May 27 to protest the delay, following which the government finally issued the wage revision order. The decision, he added, was a result of the sustained struggle and unity of workers.

AIUTUC district secretary Pramod said the government order should not remain merely on paper and must be implemented immediately across all government departments and scheduled industries. He urged workers to remain vigilant and united to ensure that the revised minimum wages are enforced without delay and without yielding to pressure from employers.