At least 25 daily wage labourers of an agricultural university in Junagadh tried to immolate themselves while demanding fixed wages, police said today.
The local police, however, detained them before this attempt.
The incident took place outside Gate No 2 of Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) yesterday, Junagadh 'B' division police said.
Twenty-five labourers were detained before their self-immolation bid under Section 151 (arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and produced before mamlatdar to be released.
However, they declined to be released and are in jail.
"We don't want to be released as long as we are not made permanent and given fixed wages. Twenty-four of our labourers are in jail while we asked one of our friends to head home because of some personal problems," JAU Shramyogi Sangh general secretary Nalin Bagiya told PTI.
"We have been on relay fast for the last 14 months (since April 11, 2012) demanding permanent employment and fixed wages from JAU. But, the varsity is not heeding to our demands," Bagiya said.
"We have not been made permanent despite being employed for the last 10 years," he added.
"We will sit on fast inside the jail from Friday to press for our demands," he further said, adding that they would not relent until their demands are met.
When contacted, JAU registrar K B Jadeja said that they cannot take any action unless the state government agrees to make these labourers permanent.
