Workers strike, garbage piles, Capital stinks
By Express News Service | Published: 24th January 2018 03:38 AM |
Last Updated: 24th January 2018 07:18 AM | A+A A- |
Garbage piled up outside Unit 2 market in Bhubaneswar on Tueday | Express
BHUBANESWAR: Heaps of garbage dot the lanes and by-lanes of Capital City with the staff of the one of the sanitary agencies hired by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) resorting to cease work from January 20. They are demanding hike in salary, among others.
The people of Wards, which are under Jagruti Sanitary Agency, complain of foul smell in the area as the garbage remains uncleared for the last three days.
The agency was given cleaning duty of 28 BMC Wards which include several industrial, educational and residential areas like Mancheswar Industrial Estate, Nalco Square, Xavier Square, Saheed Nagar, Acharya Vihar, New AG Colony, Dumduma Phase-I to IV, among others.
“This was the internal matter of Jagruti Sanitary Agency. We had warned the officials of the agency to sort out the matter with their workers or face action,” BMC official Srimanta Mishra said.
Meanwhile, the agency’s staff called off their strike on Tuesday after the firm’s officials held a meeting with them and hiked their salary. “We held a meeting with the workers and sorted out the differences. A male worker was getting `166.66 per day and a woman worker was getting `160. We have hiked their salaries following which they called off their strike,” Jagruti’s official Ajay Kumar Panda said.
“The workers were already getting Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI). This was informed to the workers, who were unaware about this benefit,” he added.
About 15 Wards come under Ramky Sanitary Agency and 14 Wards under PMR Sanitary Agency, the cleaning work of the remaining 10 Wards is done by the BMC itself.
