CHENNAI: For the fifth day in a row, hundreds of conservancy workers from Royapuram and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar continued their protest against the privatisation of solid waste management (SWM) operations, outside Ripon Buildings on Tuesday.
The city corporation on June 30 had adopted a resolution to outsource solid waste management in Royapuram and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zones to Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd.
Although the contractor should have started work on August 1, many areas in the two zones have uncollected garbage spilling onto streets. Sources said while the contractor has hired new sanitary workers on contract basis, they were inexperienced and not enough to resolve the situation.
The protesters said they have no plans to rejoin work anytime soon as no corporation top official or mayor have met them. The two zones employ a total of 5,180 conservancy workers. Many of them recalled how CM MK Stalin, in a letter dated January 19, 2021, opposed SWM privatisation and promised to regularise temporary workers if DMK came to power.
While the corporation pays Rs 23,000/month for 31 days of work, private contractors are allegedly offering only Rs 15,000. “Whenever the CM visits for inspections, we are asked to work extra hours. We have now become invisible to the CM,” said a protester from Kolathur.
Workers alleged that corporation officials were threatening termination if they didn’t join the private firm. Former minister D Jayakumar and TVK’s Aadhav Arjuna joined the protesters on Tuesday.
Mayor Priya accused the opposition of politicising the issue. She said the contractor took over SWM operations on August 1 and that battery-operated vehicles have been distributed, new workers appointed, and existing staff were invited to join. Waste collection will be back on track soon, she added.