Salary pending for six months, 15 hostel workers stage protest in Odisha

Fifteen employees of the Anwesha hostels in the Nabarangpur district of Odisha have launched a protest, citing a six-month delay in salary payments. The workers, who provide essential cooking and cleaning services for the boys' and girls' hostels at Tirliamguda, staged a dharna on Wednesday to demand the immediate release of their outstanding wages.

According to reports from OTV, the staff members decided to halt their daily duties to draw the attention of local authorities to their financial plight. The employees stated that the prolonged absence of income has caused significant hardship, making it difficult for them to meet their basic living expenses and support their families.

The Anwesha program is a state-run initiative in Odisha aimed at providing educational support and residential facilities for tribal students. The protest highlights ongoing administrative challenges in the management of these facilities, which rely on outsourced or contract labor for daily operations. As of Wednesday, there has been no official statement from the district administration regarding the timeline for salary disbursement or the resolution of the staff's grievances.