MYSURU: Major and Medium Irrigation Minister Govind Karjol on Monday said that the state government will soon issue an order regularising jobs of all pourakarmikas working at local bodies across the state.
Speaking during a function organised by the Mysuru district administration and Safai Karmachari Commission to felicitate meritorious children of civic workers and Safai Karmacharis, the minister said that in the next two months all those working under the direct payment system will be regularised.
He said, “Though the country is celebrating 75 years of Independence, the issues faced by Dalits and downtrodden have not been fully addressed. Even today we are seeing incidents of manual scavenging. During B S Yediyurappa’s tenure as chief minister, he set up Safai Karmachari Commission but issues still persist.”
Various governments have come and gone, but problems of Safai Karmacharis remain unaddressed,” he said, adding, he would be happy once jobs of pourakarmikas are regularised. Expressing concern over only 6,000 pourakarmikas working in rural areas, he said there should be at least 29,000 pourakarmikas as per the ratio.
District in-charge minister S T Somashekhar underscored the importance of addressing the issue of manual scavenging. “There are more than 10,000 manual scavengers and there is a need to sensitise people about this,” he said.