CHENNAI: Shankar (name changed), a watchman at Muthalvar Thirumana Maligai, a corporation-run community hall in North Chennai, has been borrowing money at high interest rates for the past two months to pay the interest on his existing loans and make ends meet. He has not received his salary for August and September and fears that his October salary, due in November, may also be delayed.
Monisha Security Agency was awarded the contract in August to provide manpower at the community halls run by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The agency deployed the workers, but has not paid their salaries since then.
Shankar has two daughters, aged seven and 13. “My daughters have already begun asking me for Deepavali dresses and crackers, but I don’t even have enough money to run my family,” he said. Shankar is among more than 600 workers at 113 community halls across Chennai who have not received their salaries since August.
TNIE visited at least three community halls, each of which had three housekeeping staff and three security personnel, one for each shift. The housekeeping staff all echoed concerns over delayed salaries and said the contractor has also not provided basic cleaning materials. Those who book the hall are sometimes asked to buy such cleaning liquids.
Sharadha (name changed), a housekeeping worker at a community hall in Royapuram zone, said, “As we have not received our salaries for the past two months, we offer to clear used banana leaves for those who book the hall, even though it is not part of our job, to earn Rs 500 per day and make ends meet.”
Many workers also said three housekeeping staff are not enough to maintain the halls, each of which has three floors comprising parking, dining and hall areas. “We need at least two more as the waste left behind after each function is huge. It includes kitchen waste and alcohol bottles, apart from the extremely unclean washing areas, floors and toilets,” Sharadha said.
Workers deployed at the GCC-run air-conditioned bus shelters, who are also engaged through Monisha Security Agency’s manpower contract, raised similar concerns about delayed salaries and the lack of cleaning materials. Some said they had not been paid for two months, while newly recruited workers said they received their September salaries only after October 15.
When contacted by TNIE, a staff-in-charge from Monisha Security Agency said that although the GCC had awarded them the contract, it is yet to issue the work order.
“The civic body has not yet provided us with the details on how much salary should be paid to the workers and has not issued the work order. The file has been sent to the GCC Commissioner, and we expect to receive the order in two days,” he said. When contacted, GCC commissioner G S Sameeran said the work was cleared on Wednesday. “It has been cleared now. They will get the salaries in next two days,” he said.
