THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kudumbashree Cleanwell unit members who lost their jobs with the closure of the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant have once again requested the Corporation and the State Government to look into their plight.
Members, belonging to around 85 Cleanwell units, took out a march from the Secretariat to the Corporation office, LMS, on Tuesday raising the demand for permanent jobs.
The agitation, which was organised by the Kudumbashree Cleanwell Thozhil Samrakshana Vedi, was inaugurated by trade union leader Perunguzhi Thankappan. He said that the women were made to work as slaves, yet enjoyed no benefits. They worked as scavengers, yet the officials are blind to their plight, he said.
At the meeting, the members of the Samrakshana Vedi said that the Kudumbashree Cleanwell members should be permanently recruited into the system. They should be financially compensated to tide over the crisis and their loans should be written off, as they have no means to repay. They asked the Corporation to set up ward-level garbage treatment mechanisms, instead of a centralised method.
‘’For the last six years, we have been engaged in collecting garbage from houses. The Corporation is now spending so much money to landfill the garbage. But it has not given us a penny. If the factory at Vilappilsala is closed, that does not mean we should remain jobless,’’ a woman said.
Another Kudumbashree member demanded that the women should be employed in cleaning jobs, if not for collecting garbage.
The women said that the garbage collection vehicles were bought on loans, which have to be repaid. Being penniless, the loan amounts are mounting, the women said.
The forum members said that they have submitted a memorandum to the Corporation requesting its immediate intervention in the issue.
The forum will conduct a meeting on Wednesday, where future steps would be decided, they said.