Employees of Amma Unavagam in Salem have filed a complaint with the district collector alleging that the DMK councilor has threatened and demanded Rs.5,000 per month if they continue to work at the Amma Unavagam.
In Salem, 11 Amma restaurants are available to the public. Each Amma restaurant employs 12 people. Six people work in two shifts.
In this situation, six women working at Amma Unavagam in the Manianur area under Salem 50th Ward filed a complaint in the district collector’s office on Wednesday (January 11).
Amma Unavagam employees stated after filing a complaint, “Amma Unavagam operates in the Manianur area of Salem’s 50th ward. This restaurant employs 12 people. Six people are working in two shifts. We’ve been working with a monthly salary of ten thousand rupees for the past ten years. Asokan, a DMK councilor and zonal committee president, says that six people working in Amma Unavagam are being fired abruptly without any notice.”
They went on to say, “We have been serving people for the past ten years, even during difficult times. Within a few months of establishing Amma Unavagam in Salem, 12 members of our team were serving food to the public. To continue our work in Amma Unavagam, DMK councillor Asokan demands Rs 5000 per month. How can we give Rs 5000 when our monthly salary is only Rs 10000? It is extremely painful for us to be threatened with extortion by a DMK councillor when the family is subsisting on this salary.”
They ended by saying, “We ask that the District Collector take action to keep us employed. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has stated that Amma Unavagam will not be closed down. But it is disheartening for us to be threatened by a DMK councillor when CM Stalin has previously spoken in support of Amma Unavagam.”
(with inputs from Vikatan)
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