24x7 protest nears one year for ITI workers in Karnataka  

BENGALURU: While the entire state celebrates Deepavali, many communities will remain without light this year. One such is a group of Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) workers, who were fired from their jobs without notice.

They have formed the Karnataka General Labour Union and have been protesting on the ITI premises since December 1, 2021. They have missed every festival and Deepavali is no different.

“As time goes on, it has become increasingly difficult. There are no plans of celebrating Diwali, just like we haven’t been celebrating other festivals throughout the year. Money has become hard to come by and some have chosen to take up part-time work as delivery drivers,” said Hemanth Kumar, president of the union. He had just come home from another stint at the protest site, where he has spent the majority of his time. Just like him, most protesters leave the protest site only a couple of times a week.

“Mediation is still going on, but has not yielded much as they only offer to take a few of us back, but not all. We have sat here through rain and flooding. Some people from outside bring us festival sweets, but that’s the extent of our celebration,” he said.

Particularly affected are seniors among the workers. “They approached other companies, but were rejected because of their age. They are offered just Rs 200-250 a day,” Hemanth said.