NEW DELHI: A mound of waste has piled up along the road at the East Vinod Nagar depot in east Delhi’s Khichripur area. The foul smell, flies and unhygienic conditions await the return of sanitation workers, who have been protesting a worker’s death for the past two days.
For years, they have worked behind the scenes on the city’s streets, collecting and handling its waste, often for 12-13 hours a day. They said that they are being pushed to the edge, alleging lack of basic safety gear, adequate healthcare, leave benefits and timely wages.
Hundreds employed through private agency Metro West continued their protest for a third day. The agitation intensified after a worker’s death in Kalyanpuri, with demands for compensation for his family and greater protection for those still on the job.
Standing in front of the Khichripur bus stand just beside the civic body’s depot, Aniket, a sanitation worker who has been working with the agency for nearly six years, said, “We want justice for him and demand that the company and the government provide compensation to his family.”
However, for the workers, the death has brought to the surface a much larger set of grievances. Many allege that despite working for years, they have not received their provident fund, while Employees State Insurance (ESI) is provided, but it does not adequately meet their healthcare needs. They are also demanding insurance and a cashless health card so they can access treatment at hospitals closer to their workplaces.
“We want our salary to increase at least twice a year. Our salary also comes after the 10th,” Aniket stated, adding that most workers live on rent and struggle to manage expenses.
Although their work is integral to MCD’s sanitation operations, the workers said the civic body treats them as employees of contractors and does not directly engage with them. “MCD says that we are contractors. They do not consider us their own. But we do all the work for MCD,” Mahesh, another worker, said.
Workers said repeated attempts to raise their grievances with the agency drew no response. The protest has also come at a cost, with workers expecting salary deductions for the days they remain off duty. Still, they said they were willing to bear the loss. “We know our salaries will be deducted. But this is about our rights,” a worker said.
The agitation underscores a contradiction at the heart of the city’s sanitation system: the workers responsible for keeping the city clean said that they are being made to work without the basic safety gears.
For the workers, the demand is not merely for higher wages. They said, it is about their right to return home safely after every shift.
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