Striking MCD staff hope for positive outcome today

To decide on further action after High Court's order

Though a section of protesting sanitation employees continued their protests by staging a demonstration outside Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra’s house in Yamuna Vihar on Tuesday, they hoped that the present predicament would be over after High Court’s hearing on Wednesday.

On Monday, a majority of safai karamcharis and engineers suspended their agitation over unpaid wages till Wednesday. While doctors had resumed their duties on Friday, municipal teachers and other employees had called off their protests on Saturday.

Striking employees littered garbage outside the minister’s house demanding a “permanent solution” to this impasse. “We will continue the agitation till the city government and the municipal corporations find a permanent solution to the issues of distribution of salaries to the their employees,” said Sanjay Gehlot, president of Swatantra Majdoor Vikas Sanyukt Morcha.

“We hope that the High Court has something positive in store for us. We think this mess should get over tomorrow. After the court’s hearing, we will go to the East Corporation’s headquarter in Patparganj to take the final decision on the ongoing strike,” added Gehlot.

Sigh of relief
People living in east and north Delhi said they have been waiting for the strike to end. “We are delighted to see sanitation workers back on their job. The streetside dumps have been brimming with garbage. Moreover the waste have been littered on the roadside. So it’s a much needed relief for us,” said Naresh Sanghi, who lives in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden.

The United Front of MCD Employees, an umbrella organisation for many workers’ unions, suspended the strike on Monday after the High Court’s order.

“We have suspended the strike for two days as we were given assurance that salaries would be transferred to our accounts by Wednesday,” said Rajender Mewati, general secretary of United Front of MCD Employees.

North Corporation Mayor Ravinder Gupta had said the Delhi government has anti-Dalit agenda as it has given funds to the two cash-strapped municipalities on a condition that no fresh recruitment be done by them particularly for Group-IV category which comprises safai karamcharis and beldars.
He said the municipality will not abide by such discriminatory conditions in lieu of funds being given to North and East corporations.

Fund-starved North and East corporations’ employees, including sanitation workers, teachers and engineers, went on strike on January 27 demanding timely payment of salaries and clearance of arrears.