News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi H R P F Bulletin – 5 The Epic tale of Akku and Leela
Dear Readers, I believe not many of you would know the classic case of how the “high-handedness” of a few officials has affected the lives of two illiterate women in Udupi. The two women, Akku and Leela, have put in about four decades of service as scavengers at the Government Women Teachers‟ Training Institute on a monthly salary of Rs. 15/-. When they joined the institute in 1971, they were told they would be paid a basic salary of Rs.15/a month until the government officially approved their appointments and then they would receive their full pay backdated to the day they joined. Even after a year, they had still not had their jobs officially approved. They wanted to quit. The principal pleaded with them to stay and promised they would receive more than Rs. 30,000 as back wages and they would be appointed on a permanent basis. He warned them that they would lose this if they resigned. The women continued cleaning the lavatories. Their plight came to light after Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhag, President of Udupi-based Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF), took up the matter and created public opinion against this injustice. In 1999 with the help of HRPF, the women approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) seeking relief. As a result, the Education Department stopped paying them even that meager salary of Rs. 15/-. Now, after 14 years of legal battle, the women have three judgments including Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court in their favor. Every court has asked the government to pay them their due right from 1971 till their retirement. Since the government has not paid their salary, the ladies have approached the Supreme Court with Contempt of Court Petition. Before you watch the story live on Spandana Channel at 8:00 pm on Thursday 8th August 2013, read the attached articles published so far. Regards, Nivedita, Editor, HRPF NEws Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi. First Floor, Vaikunta Baliga College of Law, Kunjibettu Udupi- 576 102
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Source:- News Today
By M V KAMATH
09 OCTOBER 2007
The judicial system and bureaucracy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India K G Balakrishnan made a very valid point recently when he said that even as the courts of India hearing the largest number of cases in the world zealously guard the rights and liberties of the people, the arrears in cases were still on the rise. He did not mention figures but we have it from the Global Corruption Report 2007 on Corruption in Judicial Systems that as of February 2006 there were 33,635 cases pending in the Supreme Court with 26 judges, 3.34 lakh cases in the High Courts with 670 judges and 2.5 lakh cases in 13,304 subordinate courts. According to the report, the ratio of judges in India is 12 to 13 per million people compared to 107 in the United States, 75 in Canada and 51 in the United Kingdom. At the current rate of disposal of cases, it would take 350 years to dispose of pending cases. So what is the answer? It would seem that some high courts have introduced 'evening courts', 'mobile courts' and 'e-courts' to make justice accessible to the remotest areas. As Justice Balakrishnan put it, 'it is imperative to introduce innovative and creative solutions to tackle' the current situation. What are these 'creative' solutions? If, for example, people belonging to the same caste have a Caste Court, can the caste chieftains or leaders serve to settle disputes among the litigants? Would the legal system accept the rulings of Caste Courts as just and equitable? If reports are to be believed, such courts have sprung up in recent times and are rendering signal service to the people. There is, e g Human Rights Protection Foundation of Udupi and the Consumer Forum of Basroor which have in the last 27 years tackled 23,000 cases without charging a rupee, nor accepting any grant from either the Karnataka or Union government. These two bodies are examples of reducing the burden on the judiciary. That apart, what is shocking is that many of the cases are trivial and do not need legal expertise for their quick resolution. All that is required is ordinary common sense and a sense of fair play. A recent case involving a woman 'scavenger' working for a Government Training School for Women in Karnataka makes it abundantly clear. This is the story. On 21 November 1929 the headmistress of the Training School appointed a sweeper cum scavenger named Sesi on a monthly salary of six rupees. Sesi belonged to the lowest of low castes. Some time in 1971 Sesi died and her daughter Akku approached the headmistress of the school for her mother's job. This was sanctioned on 12 July 1971. The wages were raised to fifteen rupees.
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi The approval appointment came six months after Akku joined duty but that doesn't matter. A letter of the headmistress addressed to the Commissioner of Public Instruction, Bangalore, dated 19 September 1998 said that Akku and a fellow scavenger, Leela - also appointed in June 1971 - were full-time employees and full-time work was extracted from them. Leela's work consisted of cleaning 7 urinals and 5 latrines seven days a week and Akku's work consisted of sweeping 21 classroom, also every day of the year. Both the employees reportedly were supposed to fill in 'temporary posts' with their wages paid from 'contingency funds'. In a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Education, Karnataka, dated 4 November 1992 Akku mentioned that she had been working for the past 20 years in a 'temporary post' and appealed that the post be made permanent. Unbelievable but true, Departmental inquiries took five long years to come to any conclusion! Eventually, on 9 July 1997, the Secretary wrote to say that the posts held by both Akku and Leela 'cannot be made permanent' - this after they had been working continuously for two decades! Time passed. Then a strange thing happened. While both Akku and Leela continued to work their wages were stopped as from 1 January 1998. Neither of the woman knew how to handle the situation until the matter was raised by a human rights organisation with the Commissioner of Public Instruction (CPI) on 23 July 2003 when the headmistress of the school requested the CPI to release wages due to the women amounting to Rs 1.16 lakh. The women thereupon appealed to the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) against the CPI which looked into the case and ordered regularisation of services of the two scavenger-sweepers as a 'social ameliorative measure', specifying that the order be obeyed within 90 days. CPI dithered. Akku thereupon made a representation to the Education Department on 27 November 2003 to get the KAT order implemented. Once again the government dithered and appealed to the Karnataka High Court to dismiss the KAT order. On 4 October 2004 the High Court dismissed the CPI appeal. Thereafter, shocking as it sounds, notice was issued to government officers for not implementing the KAT order. At this point the government advocate, M B Prabhakar wrote to the head of the Legal Cell, Department of Education, Bangalore, informing the latter that this was a 'fit case' to take to the Supreme Court. On 10 November 2004, the Karnataka government authorised a Supreme Court advocate, Sanjay R Hegde to file a Special Leave Petition against the Karnataka High Court's final Order at the Supreme Court. Incidentally, it is now 2007 and the two women are still working without being paid! Something of a record. There are no legal intricacies here. Both the women have been and are full-time workers. And they have been working now for over three decades, cleaning latrines and sweeping classroom floors. And they have not been paid since 1998 or for nine long years. What sort of justice is this? If such injustice can be done to two poor illiterate women, what justice can one expect in
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi more complicated cases pending in the courts - some 2.5 crore in all? Does anyone care? In the case of these two women, a local human rights organisation took up cudgels on their behalf but how many of the 2.5 crore cases can expect such help? Does it require a Supreme Court intervention to do justice to two unhappy illiterate women who have not been paid a single paise for nearly a decade? How are they expected to live? There are no answers. Does Justice Balakrishnan have any? The truth is that our government departments are insensitive to human suffering. When a government is pulled up, his (or her) instinctive reaction is to appeal to a higher court. There is no end to litigation. This is where the problem lies. The number of courts may be increased at all level; the courts may sit for longer hours, even curtail their holidays. But in the end the solution lies in changing the mind-set of people and that's a job not for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court but for social reformers and the media.
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi
The Hindu, Saturday 20, 2012
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi 2 Udupi women work for ` 15 a month for last 42 years! 10:47 AM, Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Two women working for Rs. 15 a month for 42 years Here is a classic case that will reveal how the “highhandedness” of a few officials has affected the lives of two Dalit women in Udupi. The two women, Akku and Leela, have put in about four decades of service at the Government Women Teachers‟ Training Institute on a monthly salary of Rs. 15. Although they were promised that their services would be regularised, they did not get any benefits even after 42 years of service. After the women approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) seeking relief in 2001, the Education Department stopped paying them even that meagre salary of Rs. 15. Their plight came to light after Ravindranath Shanbhag, president of Udupi-based Human Rights Protection Foundation, took up the matter and followed up the case right up to the Supreme Court. Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Shanbhag said that although the Supreme Court, the High Court of Karnataka and the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal ruled in favour of the women and directed the government to regularise their services, the order is yet to be implemented by the government. Meanwhile, the women continue to clean the 21 toilets in the institute all through the year without any payment, he said. “The Karnataka Administrative Tribunal asked the government in 2003 to regularise them in 90 days and the Karnataka High Court ordered the government to pay their salaries in 2004. Notices were also issued for contempt of court when the directions were not implemented. Instead of paying them salaries, the government filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court in 2005. “The Supreme Court ruled in the women‟s favour in 2010. Despite all this, the women are still waiting to get their benefits,” Mr. Shanbhag said. “Now, the authorities say that the women were not employable because they had reached the retirement age. I am surprised that the government spent lakhs of rupees on fighting the cases against the hapless women rather than pay what is due to them. Is there any other court above the Supreme Court that can give justice to these women?” Mr. Shanbhag asked and urged the government to pay what is due to the women.
In response to several readers' offers of help for Akku and Leela, Dr.Ravindranath Shanbhag, the human rights activist who has been campaigning for their cause, says these women do not want any charity. All they want is for the government to pay them their due. ( The Hindu BANGALORE, October 4, 2012 )
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AKKU
AND LEELA CLEAN WITHOUT PAY
21
TOILETS IN AN INSTITUTE THREE TIMES A DAY, BUT
Earning a salary of Rs. 15 a month for their work as sweepers for over four decades, Akku and Leela have never had it easy. But one thing they are never short on is self-respect. The two women, cleaned toilets at the Government Women Teachers‟ Training Institute, Udupi for a monthly salary of Rs. 15 from 1971 to 2001. They still clean the 21 toilets in the institute three times a day, but without pay as they had approached the court seeking justice regarding their salary. Following publication of their story in The Hindu, several readers from across the globe have come forward to help them financially. But these women insist that they do not want charity. “All that we want is what is due to us. What our hard work all through the past 42 years deserves,” Ms. Akku toldThe Hindu. Ms. Akku was employed as a sweeper at the institute in 1971 after her mother died. Ms. Leela, too, joined as a sweeper the same year in her grandmother‟s place. Both their appointments were approved by the Deputy Director of Public Instruction of Dakshina
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Kannada district in 1972 and their basic salary was fixed at Rs. 15 a month. “We were promised that our services would be regularised and salaries increased as per the government rules [the Minimum Wages Act]. But the same salary continued for years. And that was also stopped after we approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) for justice in 2001. From then till now we have been working with the hope of getting the benefits that are due to us from the government,” Ms. Akku said. Udupi-based Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF) president Ravindranath Shanbhag, who has been fighting for their cause, said although the Supreme Court, the Karnataka High Court and the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) ruled in favour of the two women and directed the government to regularise their services, the order is yet to be implemented. “It is unfortunate that the government spent lakhs of rupees on fighting the cases against the hapless women rather than pay what is due to them,” he said. Mr. Shanbhag said the women had high self esteem and had refused help in the past too. “When some teachers from the institute gave them some money a few years ago, they refused to accept it until they were allowed to return the favour by cleaning the toilets in the homes of the teachers. While supporting their battle, HRPF has seen to it that their self-respect is not hurt,” he said. Pointing out that both Ms. Akku and Ms. Leela have been fighting for justice since four decades, Mr. Shanbhag said: “The HRPF joined their fight only in 1998. When their Rs. 15 salary was stopped and services terminated in 2001, we offered them financial and legal support. They flatly refused the financial support but accepted the legal assistance with a condition that they would return the money spent by the Foundation once they get justice from the courts. We agreed, respecting their spirit and self-respect.” Reacting to the issue, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri said he had directed his officials to submit a report on the case within two weeks. “It is an old case. I will study the report and will ensure that the women get justice,” he said.
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Two underpaid women demand full wages Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhag, president of the Human Rights Protection Foundation of Udupi, introduced to the press Elizabeth and Padma, who have been underpaid for several years. Elizabeth, who worked in Government Teachersâ€&#x; Training School in Balmatta, Mangalore, for 43 years, and Padma, who worked in Fisheries Junior College for 42 years, were both paid a monthly salary of only Rs. 15. The two women approached higher education authorities and requested them to pay their full wages with interest from the day they received their appointment order. However, the government officials have not responded so far. Mr. Shanbhag said that the ladies are still working in the institutions, but are receiving no salary because they are being considered retired. The government has not made any fresh appointment either. Citing the example of Akku and Leela, two other women who worked as scavengers in an educational institution for only Rs. 15 per month, he said that Akku and Leela had approached the then CM B. S. Yeddyurappa after winning their case in Supreme Court. The chief minister had told them that it is not possible to pay them, adding that, if the government paid them, it would have to pay the other workers too. Mr. Shanbhag said that there are around 300 underpaid workers like Akku, Leela, Elizabeth, and Padma in Karnataka.
Mangalore Today News Network Mangalore, Oct 16, 2012:
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Working as sweepers to earn just Rs 15 a month for 40 years MANGALORE: Elizabeth (68) and Padma Amin (55) worked for over 40 years as sweepers for a meager salary of Rs 15 per month. Udupi Human Rights Protection Foundation found that Elizabeth worked at the Government Teachers Training School at Balmatta in Mangalore for 43 years from 1964 and Padma Amin joined the Fisheries Junior College in 1970 and worked for 42 years. Both were offered only Rs 15 per month as salary. The foundation had brought to light similar cases of Akku (60), a dalit woman, and Leela Sherigar (59), who had been working for 42 years in Government Women Teachers' Training Institute at Udupi for a meagre salary of Rs 15 a month. Foundation president Ravindranath Shanbhag told TOI that since similar cases of Akku and Leela were taken up in the past by the Foundation and they won the legal battle in the Supreme Court, both Elizabeth and Padma have already approached the higher ups in the Education department seeking full wages along with interest right from the day of appointment, which may be over Rs 25 lakh. "We are pursuing the matter, but we have not received any response from the government officials about payment to the ladies. The Foundation has documents to claim that Elizabeth had worked at the government school till 1997. After that they have been asked to maintain separate attendance sheets which we are yet to find out. For some time at the management of the school used to collect money and pay them salaries," Shanbagh said. "The foundation had taken up the case of Akku and Leela who worked as sweeper and scavenger in the Government Women's Training Institute, Udupi for a basic salary of Rs 15 a month for more than 40 years. Inspite of having three court judgements including that of the Supreme Court, they were denied their hard earned money. Akku and Leela were cleaning the toilets, kitchen, classrooms and hostels only with the hopes that the government would make their appointment permanent and reimburse their dues as per minimum wage criteria in lump sum. The Supreme Court verdict is already 32 months old and the officials of Education department of the State are in no hurry to obey the court order," Shanbhag said and alleged that there may be hundreds of such cases prevailing
Vinobha K T, TNN Oct 17, 2012, 06.38PM IST
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News Bulletin Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi Two Indian women apply to Guinness World Records for the Lowest Salary in the World Where would you need to go to find the World‟s lowest paid workers? Not far – It is here, in India. In a disgusting show of Indian Human Rights sham, two women, Akku and Leela Sherigar have earned an average of 180 rupees – or £2 – a year – and for the past 11 years they have worked for free after a dispute with their employer. These Indian cleaners have been given just £64 after 40 YEARS of scrubbing toilets without a day off (and they‟ve never had a pay rise!) For more than 40 years they‟ve meticulously toiled away, cleaning and scrubbing toilets in southern India. Astonishingly, however, the two dedicated cleaners have only received to the tune of only £64 EACH, for four decades of working their fingers to the bone.The two women, both aged 59, started working as toilet cleaners for the Government‟s Women Teacher‟s Training Institute, in South India, in 1971, for INR 15 a month as fresh-faced 18-year-olds. However, they‟ve not had a single pay rise ever since, even though they have never missed a day‟s work. Even though they are angry, they‟ve now applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for the title of the lowest salary in the world. Akku said that they were promised a pay rise every year which never came. They trusted their employers to eventually pay them. They never believed it‟d come to this moment. They both take pride in their work and could not give it up. They have always hoped that one day, they would get what they were promised.‟ In 2001, they finally decided that they have had enough and complained to the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, in Udupi, near Goa. Following this complaint, their wages were stopped altogether with no mention of any reimbursements. But the dedicated women still continued their work of cleaning 21 toilets, thrice a day, seven days a week. For the last 11 years, they have worked for literally for free. The president of the Human Rights Protection Foundation, Ravindranath Shanbhag, has taken up their case, and has been helping them take their case to the Supreme Court of India. Even though in 2003, the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal ordered the government to pay out, no payment has been given to the women. The Karnatak High Court in 2004 and Supreme Court in 2010 also concluded that the Government should pay up, nothing has been done so far. Akku and Leela are now praying that they will get what they deserved, with local support and some help from the Indian press. They are due to retire next year and are hoping they are paid along with the interest. „All we want is what is due to us, what our hard work through the past 42 years deserves,‟ Akku added.
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Thanks !!! Please watch the story live on Spandana Channel at 8:00 pm on Thursday 8th August 2013,
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