BMC refuses to grant 'permanent' status to contract employees

The torch bearers of India's ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission, contract sweepers or conservancy workers who sweep the cities clean, clear the drainage, collect garbage, and make sure we walk on filth-free roads, say they have no more incentive for continuing to do so as they aren't made to feel "valued."

Many workers say the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has "notoriously denied them permanency in their contracts, citing differences in the spellings of their names on the court lists and their Aadhar cards." Last year, in April, Supreme Court ordered the Corporation to issue permanent status to 2,700 of its contract safai karamcharis working in the conservancy department. These men and women, mostly migrants, were forced to work on short term contracts, and had been fighting a hard-won legal battle for almost two decades.

Yet, it turns out that 1,400 of them still remain on contract. Less than 200 employees were made permanent and were issued the appointment letter in August 2017, following the court order. Ironically, 66 of them have been suddenly dismissed, citing the excuse of mismatched spellings of their names. All these non-permanent workers are being termed by the corporation as "volunteers," which, in effect, will keep them away from essential labour laws and rights. These include the right to take weekly offs, paid medical and casual leaves, and something as basic as having access to a 'lunch room,' for having their afternoon meals, besides a host of other benefits, including timely wages, and basic sanitation gear such as protective masks and gloves. They are not even insured for injuries they sustain at work, which permanent employees get medical reimbursement for. While the remuneration for a permanent staffer is Rs 24,000, a contract safai karmachari, is paid Rs 14,500 per month.

Milind Ranade, who is leading the Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh, a union of sanitation workers in Maharashtra, says, "It took more than seven years for the court to rule in our favour in October 2014, but the corporation challenged it. But then again we won in the hands of the Bombay High Court, last year. Yet, the BMC hasn't really budged and hasn't yet given us the rights we deserve."

"These illiterate dalit migrant workers cannot write their own names and are now falling prey to a distorted system that is bent on being prejudiced against migrant labourers from North India who are mostly dalits. Suddenly, the BMC cannot invalidate people and sack them without chargesheet and notice. Each of these contract employees must get his Provident Fund money which amounts to Rs 2.25 lakh per employee over the years, and this chunk has been siphoned off by the Corporation.”

A meeting of Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh has been scheduled for June 17.