CHANDIGARH: The sanitation workers' union on Wednesday rejected the welfare package announced by the AAP-led Punjab government and decided to continue its statewide strike, as data shows that 51 sewer workers have died in the state while cleaning underground sewage systems over the last 33 years.
With the 2027 Assembly elections less than six months away, the Punjab government had announced the package for protesting safai sevaks and sewermen. The ongoing strike has led to heaps of garbage accumulating across the state.
Gai Chand, General Secretary of the Safai Karamchari Union, said the union strongly opposed the hike in the monthly salary of contractual sanitation workers to Rs 20,520 from August 1.
"The offer has been rejected. After deductions, workers would receive only around Rs 16,000 a month," he said, adding that the union has demanded a minimum salary of Rs 40,000.
The union has also opposed the 45-year age cap set for the regularisation of contractual workers.
"Of the total 30,000 workforce, at least 15 per cent have crossed the age of 45. Many had been recruited on contract about four years ago. The government should relax the age bar," said Kuldeep Singh, state advisor of the Safai Karamchari Union.
The Punjab government had announced a welfare package for safai sevaks and sewermen working in urban local bodies, deciding to bring outsourced sanitation workers with three years of continuous service under direct contract.
It also announced the regularisation of contractual workers who have completed five years of service, along with those engaged in 2021, and revised the monthly remuneration of contractual sanitation staff to Rs 20,520 from August 1.
According to data compiled by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), a total of 51 sewer workers have died in Punjab since 1993.
Ludhiana tops the state's casualty list with 15 sewer worker deaths since 1993. The last recorded incident in the industrial city occurred on December 17, 2017, when Joginder Singh lost his life. Mohali is second with eight deaths, followed by Bathinda with seven, Amritsar with six, Ferozepur with five and Jalandhar with three deaths.
Official figures do not include deaths in private septic tanks, where the casualty count is believed to be higher.
Despite the gradual introduction of mechanised sewer-cleaning systems in urban centres, the state continues to face a severe shortage of such machinery, forcing workers to manually enter hazardous septic tanks and mainlines.
The families of two deceased workers are yet to receive compensation. Under existing norms, the family of a worker who dies on duty is entitled to Rs 10 lakh in compensation. However, procedural delays and legal hurdles continue to hamper disbursal.
On February 5, 2011, sewer worker Sushil died in Ludhiana, but the compensation remains unpaid as no legal heir has been verified to date. On November 22, 2012, two workers, Rakesh Kumar and Tinkuu Kumar, lost their lives in Barnala.
Demanding adequate safety machinery and immediate regularisation of all contractual workers, Municipal Workers Federation state president Gurpreet Singh Walia said manual cleaning remains rampant across the state due to a lack of suction and jetting machines.
He said sewer cleaning in most towns is still carried out manually without basic safety kits or gas masks, putting sewermen's lives at risk every day just to earn a living.