New Year brings cheers to Akku, Leela; govt clears wage arrears for 42 yrs

New Year brings cheers to Akku, Leela; govt clears wage arrears for 42 yrs

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Jan 3, 2013: : Finally, there is smile on the faces of two elderly women named Akku and Leela who had worked for a paltry wages of Rs 15 per month for 42 years.

The State government  has released  the second instalment of their wage arrears amounting to Rs 3.68 lakh each. The two women received the cheques on January 1. In the first instalment government had paid them Rs 2.11 lakh each.

In another development the State Government which was facing a contempt of court  case has also submitted its statement before the  Supreme Court in the case on January 2.

The Government also assured the Court that an affidavit regularising the services of the two women would be filed within two weeks.

The Human Rights Protection Foundation of Udupi led by its President Ravindranath Shanbagh had put in a great deal of efforts in securing justice to the two women. In fact it  is almost after four years of SC ruling that the arrears have been paid to the women.

 The case : Akku of Kinnimulki and Leela of Chitpady had joined work at the Government  Girls’ Training School of Udupi run by the Education Department in 1971 on a temporary basis for a paltry Rs 15 basic pay. Their appeal to regularise their service went unheeded  and even the government directive to regularise the services of all temporary workers who have served for over ten years prior to 1984 was violated.

The two aggrieved women had moved the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal in 1998 following which the Education Department suspended them from service.  However, the two continued to serve the institution for no wages. They retired in 2011. In the meantime , the KAT  in 2003 regularised their service and directed that the  wage arrears  with retrospective effect from 1971 be paid to them. The state government moved the High court challenging this order. The HC which dismissed the appeal directed to adhere to the KAT ruling.

The Government had then moved the Supreme Court where too it had to face a setback. The SC in its ruling in January 2010 regularised the services of Akku and Leela and directed that they be paid they full wages with retrospective effect from 1971.

The Human Rights Protection Foundation of Udupi filed a Contempt of Court case against the government in the Supreme  Court last June after the state government failed to adhere to the Court ruling even after four years.

The Supreme Court had later issued a final warning to the Government to adhere to the ruling.