More than 100 workers employed at the Statue of Unity have reportedly gone on strike. The reason, a Divya Bhaskar report suggests, is that they have not been paid their salaries for three months.
As per the report, the employees, who work for a company named Updater Services Ltd (UDS), have alleged that they are being exploited. The disgruntled employees reportedly also formed a human chain outside the statue as a sign of protest. Men and women who work as security guards, gardeners, sweepers, liftmen, ticket checkers etc said that non-payment of salary has made their lives difficult.
The exorbitantly expensive and colossal Statue of Unity — a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — has seen several incidents of infrastructural problems. The statue has drawn criticism not just from the Opposition for the amount spent on it, but also from local tribal groups who claim that the statue has adversely affected their livelihoods.
Recently, farmers in the draught-hit Kutch district had protested over diversion of water to the boating arena around the statue.