Safai workers go on indefinite stir

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 23

The city has been left to stink as safai workers engaged in the task of door-to-door garbage collection have gone on an indefinite strike starting today. Working with the JITF company on a contractual basis, the workers are demanding immediate release of salaries of 30 employees for the past two months.

Owing to their strike, garbage was not picked up from close to 64,000 households of the city and secondary garbage picking points could be seen littered with garbage.

Elaborating on their decision to strike work, Ram Babu, president, JITF Safai Karamchari Union, Municipal Corporation Bathinda, said: “About three months ago, the safai workers had gone on strike for 9-10 days following which the JITF company has issued a warning to them threatening that if they did not return to work, they would be terminated. While all employees had joined back, names of about 30 employees were not added to the list by the JITF company at the time of resuming the work.”

“Since their names were added to the list later, their salaries were not released. It’s been two months now since their salaries have not been released. We met MCB Commissioner Anil Garg and he assured us that the salaries will be released and also asked us not to go on strike. Since the promise fell flat, we submitted a formal complaint with the MCB Commissioner but nothing had been done. Now, we have finally decided to strike work till the time the salaries are not released,” he said.

Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, the MCB Commissioner said he had already met the safai workers and taken up their case with the JITF officials. “I have spoken to JITF officials and asked them to release the salaries of the employees for the days they have worked. I had conveyed the same to the workers as well but they still went ahead with the strike.”

He said while he MCB and JITF would soon resolve the matter, in case the safai workers refuse to end their strike, the MCB would look for alternative measures to ensure garbage collection from city households.

There are about 365 safai workers working with the JITF for door-to-door collection of garbage. Since long they have been demanding regularisation of their jobs, arguing that they have been working with the MCB for over three years now. They are paid a monthly salary of Rs 6,428 for collecting the garbage.