JOIN USThe Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started mapping pourakarmikas to keep track of their work.
“This is a new initiative based on a scientific study to help the civic body keep track of the number of pourakarmikas working on each road,” BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said at the council meeting on Thursday.
A report by a group of experts from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and officials from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure and Development Corporation (KUIDFC) and BBMP says that a pourakarmika can effectively work for 700 households.
However, pourakarmikas have demanded that the 1:700 ratio be modified to 1:500.
“There are three types of roads in the city: major roads (more than 80 feet), intermediary roads (between 40 and 80 feet), and minor roads (within 40 feet). By mapping pourakarmikas, we will know which worker is working on which type of road and all the details will be updated on the website,” he explained.
He said the mapping process will be completed by next week.
“Once we arrive at the number of pourakarmikas’ required, we can add or remove workers accordingly.
The state government will not be against hiring more workers,” he said. Mayor R Sampath Raj concurred with him.
Opposing the 1:700 ratio, Maithreyi Krishnan, a representative of the BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha said, “Some workers who have been working for decades are removed citing this ratio. We are against this.”
However, Prasad said it was important to have the right number of workers to save the BBMP expenses. “We earn around Rs 42 crore from the solid waste management (SWM) cess and spend around Rs 800 crore every year towards SWM. This huge gap should be reduced. Workers who are more than 60 years old are still enrolled with the civic body,” he said.