Landmark Verdict on Regularisation, Same wages and Service Conditions for Same and Similar kind of Work, All Components of Wages on par with Regular Workers For Contract Sanitation Workers in Karnataka Municipalities and Corporations! Victory to Struggles of Sanitation Workers in Karnataka! Victory to BBMP Contract Pourakarmikara Sangha, Affiliated to All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) And Led by Com. S Balan! Certain dalit castes like Madigas, Arunthathiars and Valmikis have been stigmatized as Waste Disposal Castes for over 2000 years. These people, who were condemned as outcastes and forced to live in segregations, in the periphery of the villages, are mostly dwelling in urban slums today. Pourakarmikas / Sanitation Workers are engaged in a noble profession of caring the society. They are, in a way, the mothers of the society as they keep our environment clean and safe by disposing the human excreta and other wastages. They are those unrecognized beauticians and protectors without whom the cities and towns would stink and suffocate with dirt and filth leading to killer epidemics. Alas! The society, however, looks at them like beasts! A writ petition [WP No. 6058 / 2006 (L-PIL)] was filed in 2006 by Pourakarmikara Maha Sangha demanding justice for more than a lakh Pourakarmikas (Sanitation Workers) in Karnataka. The writ petition sought abolition of contract system, same wages and same service conditions for all contract Pourakarmikas engaged in same and similar kind of work as per Rule 25 (2) (v) (a) of Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Rules, 1971, and providing all components of wages, benefits and other facilities to contract Pourakarmikas on par with regular Pourakarmikas in all City Corporations, City Municipalities and Town municipalities all over the state of Karnataka. In spite of being engaged in permanent and perennial nature of work, nature of employment of overwhelming majority of sanitation workers in all municipalities and corporations in Karnataka are under inhuman contract system. As on date, out of the total 18,709 sanitation workers only 3,178 are on the pay rolls of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the remaining are tied under the most exploitative contract system under 79 contractors. These workers clean all the 198 wards in Bangalore that are divided under eight zones. Regular Sanitation workers are being paid a monthly wage of around Rs. 14,000 while their counterparts under contract system are being paid a paltry sum of Rs. 5,054 a month. Com. S. Balan, State President of AICCTU and All India Vice-President of ‘All India Municipal Workers Federation’ that is affiliated to AICCTU, appeared, as an advocate, before the Division Bench of Karnataka High Court comprising Justice KL Manjunath and Ravi Malimath representing these hapless and helpless workers. After hearing the legal arguments of Com. Balan on an issue dearer to his heart and for which he has led decades-long struggle, the bench issued directions to the government to consider the applications already filed and to be filed by unions for regularization, for same wages and service conditions for same and similar kind of work and payment of all components of wages, benefits and other facilities on par with the regular sanitation workers. The Court also directed the Karnataka State Government to dispose off the matter within six months of this order as per law. It is to be noted here that State Advisory Contract Labour Board (SACLB) constituted a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Com. S. Balan to look into the question of abolition of contract labour system in sanitation works under the BBMP. The Sub Committee has already submitted a report recommending abolition of contract labour system and regularization of all contract sanitation workers under BBMP. BBMP Contract Pourakarmikara Sangha (BBMP Contract Sanitation Workers’ Union) affiliated to AICCTU filed 1200 claim petitions, on 19 Feb. 2014, under Rule 25 (2) (V) (a) of Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Rules, 1971 demanding wages on par with regular sanitation workers under the same BBMP. In view of the order by the Karnataka High Court today (12 Mar. 2014), above referred proceedings under Sec. 10(1) of Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (CLARA), 1970 and the Rule 25 (2) (V) (a) of Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Rules, 1971 shall be considered and disposed off within six months from today. In addition to it, BBMP Contract Pourakarmikara Sangha, affiliated to AICCTU, has also succeeded in increasing the monthly salary of Rs. 1800 to Rs. 6860 through various forms of struggle. The union also succeeded in securing the government declared Dearness Allowance (DA) of Rs. 542 in Apr. 2013 and another Rs. 846 in 2014. Thus, viewed from any angle, there appears to be a ray of hope and light at the end of the tunnel for the Pourakarmikas of Karnataka. We hope the life and working conditions of these hitherto neglected brothers and sisters will be better off in the future. Victory to Struggles of Sanitation Workers in Karnataka! — with Poarkodi Natarajan and 7 others. (9 photos)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 10:42:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015