Protests against the suspension of 16 contractual land surveyors in Bihar escalated Wednesday, with police saying they had to resort to “mild lathicharge” on hundreds of workers gathered along Patna’s Bir Chand Patel Path. This is the second lathicharge in two days.
The workers were protesting the state government’s move to suspend 16 land surveyors who have been on strike for the past two weeks. The surveyors, who have been part of the state government’s mega land survey since August 20 to identify and digitise records for over 45,000 villages in Bihar, have been demanding regularisation and pay parity with government land surveyors.
However, officials said there were no injuries in the incident.
Express photo by Rahul Sharma
This is the second consecutive day of protesters being lathicharged in Patna. On Tuesday, police lathicharged Teachers Recruitment Examination (TRE)-4 candidates who were protesting the Bihar Public Service Commission’s move of advertising only 26,000 posts against the state government’s promised 1 lakh vacancies.
The protesters had been demanding to meet Bihar’s land and revenue minister Sanjay Saroagi.
Significantly, about 7,500 land surveyors have been on strike for the past two weeks.
Express photo by Rahul Sharma
Vibhuti Kumar, state secretary of the Special Survey Contractual Employees and Engineers Association, told The Indian Express that it was “unfair” on part of the land and revenue department to suspend several contractual workers “just because they spoke up for their rights”.
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“We demand regularisation of special survey employees, including assistant settlement officers, survey amins and clerks. Our retirement age should be 60, and we should be given pay parity,” he said.
A land and revenue department official, however, said that the government was “considering appointing fresh land surveyors on contract”. “Existing contractual surveyors have not been cooperating with us,” he said.
