TIRUPPUR: With the increasing focus on cleanliness of public areas more and more sanitary workers are needed for the job. Public and private entities engage them but many work on a contract basis. Many migrant workers are drafted by labour contractors for cleaning streets, drains, hospitals, offices etc. Among the migrant labourers who work in different sectors sanitary workers are the poorest and they often don’t benefit from the state welfare schemes as they can’t produce key documents that are necessary to enrol in various state welfare boards.
Tiruppur-based migrant workers who are into sanitary jobs claimed local officials deny them benefits that are offered by the state.
“We are not given the Tamil Nadu Sanitation Welfare Board identity card despite doing sanitary work in Tamil Nadu, they alleged. This card is necessary to avail insurance, compensation, government aid and even pension.
Official data state 1,850 sanitary workers of the Tiruppur city Corporation are outsourced by a single contractor. Such sanitary workers who are mostly migrants work under a contract system get a fixed salary of Rs 435 per day. This is in contrast to the Rs 25,000-Rs 45,000 pay for sanitary workers with permanent jobs.
Speaking to TNIE, M Raju (40) a contract sanitary worker, said, “I belong to a Telugu-speaking community from Nanded district of Maharashtra. More than half of the families are from this district. We are paid on a regular basis. But, we aren’t getting any benefit from the state government. One local resident here informed me about the welfare card. He explained its benefits such as accident insurance, natural death compensation, funeral compensation, education assistance, marriage assistance, financial assistance, aid for spectacles, and old-age pension. But, the officials are refusing the cards by offering lame reasons. We are disappointed as we are denied the state sanitary workers welfare cards despite doing sanitary work in Tamil Nadu.”
CITU-Rural Workers Union (Tiruppur) secretary R Rangaraj said,” Sanitary workers miss out on a lot of benefits as they aren’t given due benefits. For example, a contract sanitary worker lost his finger while clearing a garbage. The injury caused a serious infection and doctors had to amputate to save his life. He was able to get compensation of Rs 1 lakh from the state government as he had a welfare card. If that had happened to a migrant contract worker, he could get nothing apart from medical expenses which are shared by the contractor.”
Rangaraj also cited another incident involving a couple from Bihar who worked as contract sanitary workers in Thirumuruganpoondi, near Tiruppur city. “The husband killed his wife over a marital dispute. He was arrested and remanded to custody. The two minor children were left alone. If they were covered under sanitation welfare cards, the children could have got a compensation of a few lakh rupees,” he explained.
But, officials of the Tamilnadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO), which offers Tamil Nadu Sanitation Welfare Board identity cards and other programmes for the economic development of Scheduled Caste, refuted the statements.
Speaking to TNIE, TAHDCO (Tiruppur) Manager T Ranjit Kumar, said, “We aren’t against sanitary workers from other states. We aren’t biased against sanitary workers of any community, religion or state though the scheme is run by the state government. But we need proper address proof including ration cards, voter’s Id etc. These workers don’t have anything. One must note that garment workers from Bihar have also got welfare cards from Tamil Nadu Unorganised Workers Welfare Board as they produced ration cards. These rules are clearly mandated by the state government for official records and establishment of proper identity.”