Confusion in BBMP over biometric system for pourakarmikas

The biometric system for pourakarmikas, which will be rolled out from Wednesday, has led to confusion among councillors and garbage contractors.

According to Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner, health and solid waste management, only 10,000 pourakarmikas have given their biometric data and the remaining 7,000 are yet to register. At the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council meeting on Tuesday, councillors questioned wondered whether these workers would turn up for work from Wednesday.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad ruled removing the workers and said their data will also be registered soon. "We have found that the number of workers, amounting to 32,000, is an inflated figure. There is no question of removing those who are working though they have not been enrolled on the biometrics," explained Prasad.

Meanwhile, Padmanabha Reddy, leader of opposition also raised concern over allotting one pourakarmika for every 700 people. Prasad replied, "We have conducted the 'time and motion' study to find out how much a worker can clean in an hour and we are allowed to make changes according to standards."

In keeping with the demands by pourakarmikas, the state Cabinet approved the abolition of contract system and introduction of direct payment of salaries. With the implementation of this system, the onus of paying salaries to workers lies on the civic body and since they did not have proper data about the number of pourakarmikas, it decided to introduce biometric system to keep a tab on how many pourakarmikas are working in the city.

'Sweeping machine scam'

The opposition members raised their concern over irregularities in buying vehicle-mounted sweeping machines to clean roads. They alleged that the approval from the council or from the corporators was never taken and yet the BBMP has spent around Rs 27 crore on this machine. "The Palike was supposed to buy a self-propelling machine but the money has been spent without the approval from the council. These machines are not even working," alleged Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, MLA, Malleswaram.

To this, Khan said, "The Palike has not spent a single rupee on this. Only operations and maintenance cost is being paid."