Mangalore : The Akhila Bharatha Karmika Sangha (ABKS) members who are on a hunger strike in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office since seven days protesting against the discrepancies in the District ESI Hospital have adopted an adamant stand that the DC  should  meet them at the protest venue and hear their plea.

The  protest has entered the seventh day on May 8, Tuesday and Sudatta Jain, District general Secretary of the Sangha has now decided to even stop consuming water.  Six more members of the Sangha too joined the hunger strike on Tuesday. In the meantime, GM Gadkar, state Vice President of the Sangha who too was on a stir had to be hospitalized on May 6, Sunday when his health deteriorated.  He has decided against continuing his stir on health grounds.

Jain said though the DC had summoned them to the office, they wouldn’t meet him and demanded that the DC himself  should come to the protest venue.

He also explained how the nearly 1,61,00 ESI card holders in the district were subject to inconvenience due to the lack of adequate facilities at the ESI  Hospital.