n its letter dated February 25, workers have also demanded holidays on all Sundays. (File)Sanitation workers in Noida have been protesting for the past six days at the Noida Authority’s Sector 6 office, demanding a hike in wages.
Akhil Bhartiya Safai Mazdoor Congress (ABSMC, Noida branch), which represents ‘100% category workers’, whose wages are provided by contractors, has been demanding a monthly wage of Rs 17,600.
Ravi Parcha (31), Mahanagar Adhyaksh ABSMC, claims that ‘100% category’ sanitation workers have been on a strike demanding an equal increase in wages for all workers including cleaners of public toilets and sweepers. Parcha has been assigned as a sweeper in Sector 49.
“100% category workers are those whose wages and cleaning equipment are provided by their contractors. These workers are fully under the control of the contractors who take a commission from the authority at a rate determined between them. This is in contrast to 2.5% category workers, whose contractors take a 2.5% commission from the authority, however, the uniform and all cleaning equipment are provided by the authority,” Parcha claimed.
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In its letter dated February 25, workers have also demanded holidays on all Sundays and major festivals, a Diwali bonus, leave allowance in cases of emergencies, reinstatement of workers that had been removed on account of leave, and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh in case a worker dies on duty, workers said.
“We are sweepers that clean all public areas including public toilets. We had filed a letter in February wherein we had placed our demands before the officials. There were several demands. However, an increase in salary was and continues to be our major demand. Workers have been consistently protesting on the same issue for the past several years. When we had protested in October 2020 on the same issue, the Authority facilitated us in getting our salary increased in April 2021,” said Tara Chand Gehlot, district president of ABSMC. Gehlot(49), has been working as a sweeper for over 20 years and has been assigned to clean Sector 53.
Gehlot added that if the workers were regularised then all the problems would not exist. Most of the 100% category workers have been employed for at least 20 years, and yet there have been no steps taken to make them permanent, a worker said.
Some female workers have been on hunger strike since Monday, like 40-year-old Babli Devi who is hopeful that the strike will be called off soon and their demands will be met.
The authority stated as the workers are employed via a contract, the decision to increase their salary is actually in the hands of the contractor. “The strike has been carried out by 100% category sanitation workers, who are the employees of various contractors and their wages are fully paid by the contractors,” a senior authority official said.
According to officials, there are 2,830 workers employed through contract (100%). These workers have gone on strike time and again demanding an increment in wages, which has proved to be an impediment to the cleanliness of the city and has caused problems for the residents, officials said.
According to Praveen Mishra, Additional CEO, the authority is always open to hearing workers’ demands. “The wages of these workers are more than the wages of any workers from other cities, and the authority always tries to meet their demands as much as they can. We have tried to explain the situation to their representatives and some of them even understood our stand,” Mishra said.
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