TRICHY: Allies of the DMK on Thursday staged a walkout following a stormy debate that ensued at the council meeting of the city corporation over the decision to outsource sanitation work to private parties. Registering their objection, councillors V Jawahar (Congress), P Govindaraja (Congress), L Rex (Congress), Biyaz Ahamed (MMK), Suresh Kumar (CPI), S Suresh (CPM) and N Prabhakaran (VCK) walked out of the meet.
Councillor Jawahar said ensuring hygiene at all the wards is the basic responsibility of the corporation. "Private parties may work in a service-oriented manner akin to the corporation. Therefore, sanitation work should not be outsourced." Recalling the objections registered at previous council meetings, Councillor Prabhakaran wanted the corporation to drop the plan since it "goes against the workers' interest."
Responding to the objections, Mayor Mu Anbalagan listed the practical difficulties to withdraw the decision to outsource work, underlying that it is up to the state government to drop it. "Other corporations have taken up the outsourcing bid. However, if the sanitation work fails to take off, the contract could be cancelled," the mayor said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Anbalagan, taking cognisance of complaints about corporation workers demanding labour charges to conduct desilting works, directed senior officials take stern action, including dismissal from services.
Other civic issues discussed included the underground drainage (UGS) works moving at a snail pace, stray dog menace and poor road conditions. The mayor revealed that the state government has sanctioned about Rs 300 crore to black-top about 300 km of road.