Goa: security guards' agitation for permanent jobs continues

Hundreds of security guards employed in various government establishments today continued their strike as Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar rejected their demand that their jobs should be regularised.
The workers have resorted to hunger strike for the last three days, parking themselves on a main road here.
Union leader Ajitsingh Rane today said the workers will not move from the agitation site till their demands are met. Condition of 12 workers, including some women, had deteriorated due to the fast, he added.
"These workers have been working for the last more than 12 years. They want permanent jobs. Their agitation is genuine," Rane said.

Chief Minister Parsekar, however, said the demand cannot be met. "The workers were taken on contract basis and they knew that their service is not permanent. Their demands are not valid. The union leaders are instigating them," he said.
Meanwhile, Goa Congress chief Luizinho Faleiro met the agitating workers and extended support.
Faleiro said taking the workers on contract basis and letting them continue in the same way is exploitation. "Any government which takes a worker on contract basis will have to confirm him in service in six months," said Faleiro, a former state labour minister.