CHENNAI: About 32,900 sanitary workers employed in rural schools across Tamil Nadu are finding it difficult to make ends meet as their highest salary is only Rs 100 per day and it has remained static for nearly 10 years. While the salary of sanitation workers in rural primary schools is Rs 1,000 per month, it is Rs 1,500 in middle schools, Rs 2,250 in high schools, and Rs 3,000 in higher secondary schools.
For instance, a woman sanitary worker at a government higher secondary school of 400 students in rural Namakkal is tasked with cleaning and maintaining over 30 urinals and 20 toilets per day. After spending nearly three hours in the morning and evening to ensure the sanitation of the school, she just gets paid Rs 3,000 per month.
“I am working in this school because my children study here and I want to earn some additional income for my family. The salary is low and erratic, and sometimes we don’t even get salary continuously for 10 months,” the woman said.
The state rural development department has allocated Rs 62.7 crore for salaries for sanitary workers and buying cleaning materials for panchayat union schools and government schools in rural areas for 2023-24 academic year (June 23 to April 24).
Teachers pool in money to pay salary to sanitary workers in many schools
The allocation was Rs 63 crore for 2022-23. According to available data, the fund allocated for sanitation in schools has remained almost the same since 2015.
Teachers and headmasters of village schools said the amount paid to sanitary workers has not been revised for nearly a decade now. Salaries, too, are erratic and several workers have quit their jobs. It is also difficult to find replacement for these jobs.
In some schools, teachers pool in additional money to pay the workers some respectable salary, sources said.
“There are more than 1,000 students in our higher secondary school and eight toilet units. Each unit has 10 urinals and two toilet seats. The government argues that being a sanitary worker is only a part-time job where they can clean the toilets twice a day and leave. However, they fail to understand that the job is a full-time commitment in most schools to ensure that the premises are hygienic. This is the exploitation of labour as no one will be willing to clean eight toilet units for Rs 100 per day. The release of funds is also erratic,” said a government higher secondary school headmaster.
A Ramu, president, Directly Recruited Post Graduate Teachers Association, said their association has been demanding that the government appoint two sanitary workers, a night watchman, and one office helper per school.
“For those who work under MGNREGA, the government provides nearly Rs 300 per day. At least in schools with more than 100 students, the state government should increase the salary of sanitary workers to Rs 10,000 per month,” he said.
Senior officials in the rural development department said the salaries have been low as workers don’t pursue this as a full-time job in most cases.
