Behind the regularisation of pourakarmikas

The government job conundrum

“We Powrakarmikas, who are mostly Dalit, and in cities/towns/villages, predominantly women, are compelled to work in the most unscientific, unhygienic and dehumanising conditions to protect the health of everyone else.

Bending our backs to sweep, pushing broken down push-carts, driving stench-filled vehicles, we are forced to handle all forms of rotting garbage, human/animal waste and carcasses with bare hands, from early in the morning to late afternoon, without even a single holiday being denied any job/wage/social security and not even provided drinking water, toilets, rest-rooms, etc.

We assert that Powrakarmikas are the true protectors of health and prevent the outbreaks of epidemics that could take the lives of the people, and yet the lives and livelihoods of Powrakarmikas are precarious.”

Thus reads the resolution made at the state-level pourakarmika (PK) convention held on April 7 in Bengaluru.

The convention resolved to annihilate caste, eradicate caste discrimination and fight for the emancipation of Dalits, emancipation of women from exploitation and harassment, the fight for dignity and the regularisation of services, eliminate the social stigma attached to the Dalit community employed in sanitation work, help the offsprings of powrakarmikas get employed in services other than sanitation and to eradicate the inhuman and casteist practice of manual scavenging. 

It also urged the authorities to declare that all workers engaged in waste management, such as sweepers, drivers, cleaners, loaders, helpers, UGD workers, etc., irrespective of their specific task, as “Powrakarmikas”. 

When civic workers get regularised

On May 1, on the occasion of International Labour Day, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike regularised the services of more than 12,600 street sweepers by absorbing them as D group employees.

An appointment letter reviewed by DH showed a salary range of Rs 27,000-46,675, including dearness allowance, medical allowance, house rentals and other perks.

“This is a step towards correcting historical injustice,” says Maithreyi, a lawyer based in Bengaluru, associated with Alternative Law Forum.

However, there are many more problems to be solved. Muralidhara Rao, a citizen activist from Koramangala who has been following the issue for years, objects to the non-inclusion of other civic sanitation workers, such as drivers and helpers. The contractor gives a driver just Rs 7,000-8,000, and the driver has to make ends meet with other means, he says.

“I agree the work of the PKs is the lowest of the low, and they should get a fairly good salary. However, all other government workers on contracts are equivalent to gig workers, like the ones hired by food delivery apps, who can be fired at any time. Only 20-30% of those on the rolls are paid well directly by the government. The government jobs have come to this today,” he adds.

“A pourakarmika’s job does not even need education. What about graduates and double graduates getting hired on contract as teachers and workers in municipalities?” he asks.

He highlights how teachers in government schools are sometimes hired on contracts for Rs 8,000-10,000, leading to deterioration in the quality of education. “They continue in the job in the hope that they will be able to curry favour with someone and become permanent some day,” he adds.

Social justice at the heart

The fight for equality for civic workers is not new. The committee constituted in the leadership of Bengaluru’s renowned old-time anti-caste politicians, IPD Salappa, highlighted in its report of 1976 the many injustices faced by this lowest of the low category of workers. It also called for pourakarmika work to be recognised as a hazardous occupation.

It recommended regularisation of those with one year of continuous service, a special wage (20% of basic salary) for sewage workers, a 1:500 ratio of pourakarmikas to the population (which is 1:700 now), weekly off, three months of sick leave, two months of maternity leave, 15 days of leave travel allowance every year, uniform working hours of not more than 6 hours for men and women alike, two-shift systems, overtime pay, and more.

Maitreyi mentions the IPD Salappa Committee report and says that housing should be provided for sanitation workers. Another proposition of this committee is to provide education to all the children of sanitation workers so that no one continues to sanitation jobs, which are mainly caste-based, where scheduled castes and tribes are hired, primarily due to the lack of any other employable skills and educational qualifications.

She says the other demand is to make the pourakarmika’s job eligible for a promotion and give them opportunities to do something other than cleaning.

“If you want to hire everyone on the rolls and pay them as per government rules, the government will go broke. To sort this out is a challenge,” says Rao. He and other proponents of privatisation argue that permanency in government jobs should be taken away so that people are motivated to work properly and take nothing for granted.

Officials of Finance Department and others have always been worried about permanent hiring, as many say such hiring gives the hired right to unionise and adds to financial burdens of the state in the form of pensions and salaries. However Maitryei thinks different.

“Abolishing the contract system is financially beneficial to the government,” she argues. It removes service charges, GST, and the difficulty of dealing with contractors. When asked about the contract system in other government jobs, Maitreyi argues that it must be abolished in its entirety. She says the contract system exists mainly in D group work, which also leads to much exploitation. 

Auto drivers, helpers next in line

Appanna, state president of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions, says that more than 2,500 workers have yet to get out of the contract system, and about 2,000 of them are more than 50 years old. 

The problems related to PKs and drivers are highlighted to the BBMP, but no one cares. “Recently High Court ruled that Rs 96.84 crores have to be paid as provident funds to the PKs, but BBMP and EPFO do not know who to pay this to, because no one has kept a record of who cleaned the streets since 2012. Retired gratuity had to be given to the retired PKs, which was not given until now. We had to go to High Court to get that sanctioned,” he says.

He feels there are many more things to be fixed, such as extended working hours for PKs. He highlights the lack of basic facilities, such as toilets and restrooms, for PKs who work in difficult situations.

 “According to the solid waste management micro plan, there should be one PK for 700 people, but there have been no replacements for dead or retired employees. Therefore, many wards have a lower number of PKs than required,” he says.

“There is no pension system for the retired PKs. The BBMP once had decided to deposit Rs 10 lakh each in banks jointly in the names of every retired PK and the corresponding joint commissioner, and give the interest from it as pension to them, but this never materialised as joint commissioners had confusions about where to deposit the money, due to low deposit rates in all banks,” he adds.

“Recently, a pourakarmika was abused in Mahadevapura’s Doddanekundi area when garbage was not cleared. But in the new garbage management plan, those who clear household garbage are different from PKs. PKs have to bear the brunt of angry houseowners when contractors do not clear garbage,” he adds.

“Many PKs do not know how to use Sevasindhu app, and get caste certificates etc. When they are at a loss, they abandon work and run from pillar to post to get these works done. No one helps them,” he adds.

“Auto drivers and helpers’ lives are even more difficult. They have to collect and sometimes segregate household garbage with their own hands, sometimes without gloves or protective measures. Not even employee state insurance is paid on their behalf,” says Appanna, blaming the ‘garbage mafia’ for the problems.

Appanna adds that in most wards, auto drivers do not even have their bank passbook with them. “Even the PF amount is withdrawn by contractors,” he adds. DH could not independently verify this claim. While PKs escaped the clutches of contractors, garbage auto drivers and helpers are yet to get out.

A BBMP pourakarmika cleaning a road in the morning after a heavy rain.

“Towards the end of this month, auto drivers and helpers would be protesting, asking the government to bring them under the direct payment system,” Maitreyi adds.

According to the solid waste management micro plan there should be one PK for 700 people but there have been no replacements for dead or retired employees. Therefore many wards have a lower number of PKs than required. Auto drivers and helpers’ lives are even more difficult.

Appanna State president All India Central Council of Trade Unions