A warder undergoes treatment in Berhampur Circle Jail on Wednesday. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 5: The hunger strike of the jail employees across the state entered its third day today. At least 153 protesters have been hospitalised in the past three days.

More than 1,400 employees of all the 92 jails in the state under the banner of the All Odisha Jail Employees’ Association have been on strike, demanding pay parity with their police counterparts or declare them Grade IV employees and provide facilities accordingly.

They complained that despite equally ranked with police constables, the jail warders get Rs 4,440 as salary and Rs 1,650 as grade pay per month, while the constables get a monthly salary of Rs 5,200 plus a grade pay of Rs 2,000.

The employees had protested wearing black badges on their hands from November 19 to December 2 before going for the hunger strike, as the state government allegedly did not pay heed to their demands.

Seven protesters have been admitted to Capital Hospital in the past three days, while 16 warders have been hospitalised at MKCG in Berhampur. Twenty in Balangir and 24 from Choudwar jail in Cuttack, too, have been hospitalised.

The employees alleged that they had been undergoing treatment at their own cost and the authorities had not even bothered to meet them. Capital Hospital authorities said the jail employees were suffering from dehydration.

“We are doing our duty as per the routine and then sit on hunger strike after our working hours are over, as we do not want the work to be affected by our protest. The strike has taken its toll on some of us and they have been h ospitalised in the past three days,” said association president Tameemur Rehman.

In another development, a delegation of the jail employees met with principal secretary of the home department yesterday, but no solution could be sorted out.

The employees today threatened that they would continue their protest till the state government fulfilled their demands. “The governments have been giving us false claims for the past 29 years. Even last year, they had promised to oblige to our demands after we had sit on hunger strike for a week, but later they did not keep their words,” said Biswanath Panda, president of the association’s Berhampur circle committee.