Safai karamcharis and pourkarmikas have announced an indefinite strike across the State from July 1, demanding that their employment be regularised and made permanent.
All pourakarmikas will strike work and hold an indefinite demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioners’ offices in all districts, said the Joint Struggle Committee of Pourakarmika Unions.
“The State Cabinet in 2017 decided to abolish the contract system and take all pourakarmikas on rolls across the State. However, bureaucrats brought in Special Recruitment Rules for Pourakarmikas - 2017, in which they categorised only those who sweep the streets as pourakarmikas and kept out other cleanliness workers, involved in cleaning drains, loaders, garbage collectors, truck drivers and others,” said members of the committee at a press conference here on Thursday.
This, the committee said, is creating divisions among the cleanliness workers, unions, and a ploy of officers who do not want to take all pourakarmikas onto the rolls, in violation of the spirit of the Cabinet decision.
“Even in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), it has been nearly five years since the State government has issued an order to regularise the employment of 4,600 pourakarmikas,” said the committee.
The committee has now demanded that all cleanliness workers, irrespective of the kind of work they do, to be treated as pourakarmikas and their employment be regularised across the State.
The committee has also demanded that pourakarmikas be employed on a direct payment basis with civic bodies and be given retirement benefit of ₹10 lakh and a pension of ₹5,000. They have also demanded that the civic bodies provide drinking water, toilet, maternity leave, allowance, and other facilities to them.
