Hyderabad civic sanitation staff begin indefinite strike

Road sweeping and garbage collection in Hyderabad came to a halt as over 20,000 sanitation workers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) began an indefinite strike to press for their demands.

The contract employees, who went on the strike from Thursday midnight, alleged that the government has gone back on its word to solve their problems by Dec 10.

Their demands include increasing salary from Rs.6,700 to Rs.16,500, mega city allowance and health cards for all employees.

The strike has also hit anti-mosquito and veterinary services in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

GHMC Employees' Union president U. Gopal said the government  promised to solve their problems by Dec 10 and since no action was taken to fulfill the promise, the employees resorted to strike.

He said the strike would continue till authorities make an announcement to meet their demands.

The employees' union had already served strike notice on GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar. The commissioner said he has no power to hike salaries as the issue related to outsourcing services of  employees of all municipalities in the state.

GHMC has been hiring contract workers for many years instead of recruiting permanent employees. The contract employees complain that they were being paid meagre salaries.