Sweepers on strike, garbage litters streets of south Delhi

 Streetside dumps were overflowing with garbage and waste littered outside in the posh south Delhi localities like Malviya Nagar, Green Park and Saket.

Reason: sanitation workers with South Corporation went on an indefinite strike on Friday demanding regular posts, long overdue arrears and better working conditions.It is feared that sanitation services will collapse across the city as safai karamchari unions from other municipal corporations are likely to follow suit.

Sanitation workers of the South Zone have struck work under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Congress. 

“We can understand the delay in salaries in North and East Corporations as they don’t have money. But why isn’t the South Corporation, which has funds in surplus, clearing the arrears of these employees,” questions Rajendra Mewati, vice-president, Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Congress. 

“The workers will not get back to work until they are paid the arrears,” he added.There are four zones under the South Corporation – Central, South, West and Najafgarh. 

In all, the South Zone has over 7,000 sanitation workers, of which 4,500 employees are yet to get arrears from the civic agency.

“The south civic agency owes Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh to each of these employees,” said Mewati. “When the civic agency has got the money, what is stopping it to pay them their rightful share?”

Sanitation workers even disrupted the South Corporation’s commissioner inspection drive in Tughlakabad, Dakshinpuri, Madangir and Push Vihar.

One of the main demands of workers is regularisation of contractual employees. While a contractual sanitation worker gets Rs 8,000 a month, a permanent one pockets nearly Rs 15,000.

Union leader Mewati said that safai karamcharis with cash-starved East and North Corporations will join the agitation soon.

 “I am meeting sanitation employees’ union of Shahdara Zone under East Delhi Municipal Corporation,” he added.  

“There can be a city-wide strike by sanitation workers starting next week”, he said.