BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has assured that the jobs of 9,000 drivers and cleaners working in municipalities across the state will be regularised in the coming days.
Siddaramaiah made this statement on Thursday, during a function organised by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), as part of Labour Day, to mark the issuance of the regularisation certificate to pourakarmikas working in the Palike for over 10 years. Ten pourakarmikas were symbolically handed over appointment orders at the event, which were issued by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, CM Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Addressing thousands of pourakarmikas and their families, the CM said, “When I was the chief minister earlier, I had noticed contractors exploiting civic workers and not paying them fair wages.
Therefore, to help the workers, a system has been devised to mandate the minimum wage as per the Minimum Wage Act. Earlier, the salary that was being received was Rs 7,000, which was increased to Rs 17,000, and a system was made to credit it directly into the bank account. In this way, civic workers were freed from the clutches of the middlemen.”
He further added that when he was in the Opposition, he had exerted pressure on the ruling BJP in the state to regularise the services of pourakarmikas and promised that he would do it when the Congress came to power. “We have fulfilled that promise today.
With this, the salary of Rs 39,000 due to pourakarmikas will be paid directly into their accounts,” the CM said, adding that the public should also voluntarily pay attention to the cleanliness of their environment.
Praising pourakarmikas for their service, Shivakumar said many programmes have been designed to strengthen the future of their children, for which Rs 700 crore has been allocated. The government made a plan so that when they retire, it will deposit Rs 10 lakh, and the pourakarmikas will get a pension of Rs 6,000. “Priority has been given to your health, your children’s education, and skill development.
In 2017, the then Siddaramaiah government had directly appointed 10,000 civic workers, and 7.70 lakh houses were built for you across the state. Meanwhile, health insurance has been announced in the budget for 2024-25,” he told the gathering, while also recalling the services of pourakarmikas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
For a better life
12,692 pourakarmikas in BBMP will get appointment letters now
Rs 25 crore for housing under the Onti Mane scheme was announced in the budget
Rs 7 crore for higher education expenses and laptops for their children
Rs 3 crore allocated for pourakarmikas to get electric two-wheelers
Rs 1 crore for skill development of pourakarmikas’ children