Sanitary workers try to petition corporation commissioner, detained

CHENNAI: Hundreds of conservancy workers, who have been demanding regularisation of their employment under the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) for the past 71 days through various modes of protest, were detained when they tried to enter Ripon building on Friday to submit a petition in this regard to GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran. While police sources said around 550 were detained for unlawful assembly, the workers said nearly 800 were detained and taken to community halls in 11 different places in the city. They were released around 8 pm on Friday. The workers, whose contractual employment with the GCC got terminated in July after the privatisation of solid waste management work in two zones of Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, had launched a protest on August 1. While GCC said the workers would be given employment by the Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd (of the Ramky group), which has taken the contract for SWM in the two zones, the workers demanded they be instead employed permanently under the corporation as promised earlier by the ruling DMK. A few hundred workers have joined the private company after it increased the salary (which was earlier significantly lesser than what they were earning under GCC) as per the direction of the Madras High Court. Many others continued to protest. Ahead of their action on Friday, the workers submitted petition to the zonal officials in the two zones on Wednesday and Thursday and were not prevented by the police. However, they were stopped on Friday. Its been 71 days without work. Our families are struggling without income, said one of the workers. Why are we being detained only when we try to go to the Ripon Building? Was it not our workplace for over a decade? If we are not even allowed to submit a petition, what kind of justice is this? asked another worker. K Bharathi of Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam, which is spearheading the protest, condemned the detention. During the pandemic, even when temples were closed, it was the sanitary workers who risked their lives for public health. The government recently announced regularisation of jobs for 1,300 temporary temple staff. Why not do the same for sanitary workers? he asked. Meanwhile, when asked about the protest, GCC mayor R Priya told the media on Friday that the workers demands for wage revision and job assurance have been addressed. However, Bharathi said what workers demanded was regularisation, the private companys contract said they could be terminated anytime.