BENGALURU: On the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava, pourakarmikas (Garbage cleaners) have expressed disappointment at the government’s recent draft to regularise the jobs of just over 3,500 contract civic workers.
Voicing their anguish, the pourakarmikas said, “We are residents of the state as well. We keep the entire city clean. Giving permanent employment to just 3,000 out of 18,000 pourakarmikas working in the city is unfair.”
The state government had agreed to employ pourakarmikas, currently working on a contract basis, as permanent employees in the state cabinet meeting in September. However, the draft proposed by the government on September 26 stated that only 3,673 pourakarmikas will be regularized.
Maitreyi Krishnan, All India Central Council for Trade Unions (AICCTU), said civic workers, including loaders, garbage truck drivers and sewage cleaning workers, have been protesting for years seeking regularisation of their jobs.
“Following protests, the government had agreed in July that the contract system will be completely removed and all workers will be made permanent,” she said. So now they have decided to hold a convention on November 6 to put pressure on the government to fulfil its assurance. Worker Unions and pourakarmikas have been protesting for basic workers’ rights of equal pay, maternity benefits, weekly off and leaves and entitlement to gratuity among others.