Jobs of 12K pourakarmikas to be regularised on May 1: CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday promised to regularise the services of pourakarmikas’ on May 1, the International Workers’ Day. Over 12,000 pourakarmikas will benefit from this, he noted. 

He spoke at the 25th annual convention of the Karnataka State Pourakarmikas’ Association. 

“It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all the needs and demands of the pourakarmikas are met,” he said, while quoting a vachana by Basavanna. 

“Whether you are a government secretary, or a pourakarmika, everyone is equal before the law. All jobs are sacred. It is unfair to be disrespectful towards any of you. Pourakarmikas have dignity. Hence your jobs will be regularised on the occasion of Workers’ Day,” he said. 

He said that the jobs of garbage truck drivers would also be regularised along with those of pourakarmikas. So far, pourakarmikas and truck drivers were working on contract basis. 

“The children of pourakarmikas should become educated. Education will bring dignity. Every child is talented and education will bring opportunities,” he said. 

Siddaramaiah noted that the previous Congress government had abolished the contract system for pourakarmikas and implemented a system where they are paid directly by the municipal bodies. “In Mysuru, 524 houses have been provided, ensuring housing for civic workers under the ‘Gruha Bhagya’ scheme, with Rs 6.5 lakh allocated per house,” he said. 

The salaries of pourakarmikas were revised from Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,000 earlier by the Congress government, he added. He also said that pourakarmikas would be given cashless health cards and assured that verification of pending documents would be completed soon. 

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar stated that Rs 500 crore had been reserved for pourakarmikas in the recent BBMP budget. 

“Of this, Rs 107 crore is reserved to provide Rs 6,000 pension for all pourakarmikas. In the BBMP alone, we have reserved Rs 730 crore for the overall welfare of pourakarmikas,” he said. 

Shivakumar added that regularisation would have a big impact on pourakarmikas as their salaries would spike to Rs 50,000. 

During the previous Congress government, 1,000 civic workers were sent on foreign tours and in 2017 as many as 10,000 civic workers were directly recruited, he said. 

“A sum of Rs 5 crore has been allocated for the distribution of materials including shoes and gloves, Rs 6 crore for uniforms, Rs 6 crore for the reimbursement of children’s education fees, Rs 4 crore for health, Rs 30 crore separately for individual housing, Rs 5 crore for skill development, and Rs 10 crore for taxi and auto drivers — altogether Rs 64 crore has been reserved for your welfare,” he said. 

Responding to this, advocate Maitreyi Krishnan of the Alternative Law Forum, who has represented pourakarmikas in legal forums, described the announcement “historic”. 

“This was a much-needed decision and we welcome this. However, the government’s decision should be extended to helpers involved in the door-to-door collection of waste. Right now, these groups are left out though they are pourakarmikas as per the law. They are working in an exploitative system with not even a direct payment system. They do not get protective gear and masks during work,” she added.