‘We don't hesitate but need safety kits too'

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 21

Thirtyeight-year-old Gurpreet Kaur is among those safai karamcharis who have been actively performing their duty as frontline warriors amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The women safai karamcharis of the Municipal Corporation are doing two shifts daily to ensure that the roads are clean.

Gurpreet has been working with the MC for the past 12 years but she had never thought she would see such difficult days.

"I do my duty regularly. I work the morning and afternoon shifts with dedication as I know it is important to ensure cleanliness. I never thought the city would witness such difficult times. After completing my shifts, I look after my family. I appeal to all people to stay home to prevent the spread of the disease," she said.

Gurpreet says she is a contractual worker and is paid Rs 7,600. "I hope the government will hear our voice and the contractual employees will be given regular jobs," she added.

Another woman employee said: "The safety suits/PPE kits should be provided to all safai karamcharis as we come out of our house to keep the city clean. We come in contact with all kinds of waste. We do not hesitate from doing our duty but we want issues related to women employees to be addressed at the earliest. We should be employed as regular staff."

Notably, members of the Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj have been demanding that women sweepers should be given an exemption from one shift daily so that they could look after their families properly.