Fri Apr 11 14:28:07 UTC 2025: ## Karnataka Hostel Workers to Protest for Regularization
**Bengaluru, April 11, 2025** – Over 12,000 hostel workers in Karnataka will stage a state-level protest in Bengaluru on April 17th, demanding the regularization of their services and the abolition of the contract system. The protest, organized by the Karnataka Rajya Samyukta Vasatinilaya Karmikara Sangha (affiliated with AIUTUC), highlights concerns over low wages, lack of benefits, and exploitative working conditions.
According to State president K. Somashekar Yadgiri, contractors are underpaying workers, failing to provide mandatory provident fund (PF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) contributions. Currently earning between ₹12,000 and ₹15,000 per month, the workers are demanding a minimum wage of ₹35,950, along with social security benefits and pensions. They also seek the appointment of night security guards for hostels. The sangha urges the government to directly deposit salaries into workers’ bank accounts, ending the reliance on contractors. The workers, employed for over two decades in hostels under the Backward Classes and Minorities Social Welfare Department and Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS), are calling for a permanent solution to their precarious employment situation.
First Piper 