Karnataka Forest Department outsourced workers have announced an indefinite strike from October 27, beginning with a protest march to Aranya Bhavan in Bengaluru, over delayed implementation of demands related to wages, service security and employment conditions.
The Karnataka State Forest Department Wildlife Units Daily-Wage Outsourced Employees’ Association said workers would first hold the Aranya Bhavan Chalo protest and then continue their agitation at Freedom Park. Association president A.M. Nagaraju and vice-president S.S. Harish said the decision followed three earlier strikes and assurances from forest minister Eshwar Khandre that, according to the workers, have not been implemented by department officials.
The proposed action is expected to involve outsourced workers from wildlife, social forestry and territorial forest divisions. In a letter addressed to Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy, the association said it had also submitted its grievances during the minister’s visit to Madikeri last month. The workers said they had sought direct payment of wages by the Forest Department, arguing that the existing outsourcing arrangement prevents them from receiving their full entitled pay.
According to the association, employees who work through the entire month are being paid for only 24 days. The workers also said they routinely work beyond the stated eight-hour period and, in wildlife units, remain available around the clock. They described working in rain, heat and conditions lacking basic facilities while protecting forests and wildlife assets.
The workers’ demands include ending the outsourcing system introduced by the department in 2017–18 and restoring direct wage payments. They have also sought service security for employees with 10 years of service, equal pay for equal work, and wage fixation based on seniority. For wildlife-unit staff, the association has demanded overtime wages under labour law, a shift system and payment for all 30 days of the month.
Other demands include implementation of hardship allowance for drivers, which the association said had been announced but not paid; clarification and action on employees’ Employees’ State Insurance and Provident Fund contributions; and information on insurance payments deposited into contract workers’ accounts. The workers have also sought identity cards, ESI cards, wage slips and formal maintenance of their service records.
The dispute places the department’s contracting and wage administration under scrutiny because the affected workers perform frontline duties across wildlife, territorial, research and social forestry units. The association has said that the failure to resolve the issues despite previous protests and ministerial assurances has led to the latest mobilisation.
The announced programme is scheduled to begin on October 27 with the march to Aranya Bhavan, after which the workers plan to continue their protest at Freedom Park. The department’s response to the association’s demands and the effect of the proposed strike on field operations remain to be established.
