Abohar sanitation workers call off strike as demands met

Abohar, March 17

About 155 regular ‘safai sewaks’ of the Abohar Municipal Corporation, who had staged a sit-in inside the corporation complex on March 3, called off their strike on Tuesday.

On Monday, the workers had dumped garbage at the main gate of the corporation complex to bar the entry of people.

After calling off the strike, the sanitation workers cleared the garbage, and said they would report to work from Wednesday onwards.

The decision to call off the strike was reportedly taken after five representatives of the Safai Sewak Union had a meeting with DC Arvind Pal Singh Sandhu at his office for about four hours.

Activists of the union complained they had to stage a sit-in for at least three times every year to demand the release of their salaries. For the poor fiscal health of the corporation, they blamed lack of efforts on the part of corporation to collect the dues from defaulters.

It’s being said the corporation was in a position to release the salary to sanitation workers for three months.

The union activists said they were grateful to the DC for calling them “safai soldiers” and for acknowledging their role in keeping the town clean. They said the row over attendance for the period they were on strike would be resolved later.

Sukhdev Singh, secretary, Abohar MC, and other officials distributed uniforms and gloves among workers, fulfilling their one of the long-pending demands. — OC