Odisha: Sanitation workers demand arrears, wages

BHUBANESWAR: Amid allegations of poor waste management in the City, protest by a section of sanitation workers engaged by private agencies demanding arrears and wage as per norms of labour law along with EPF benefits has emerged as a concern for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). 

The sanitation workers, who had boycotted work and staged protest on September 22 and 23, held a meeting on Monday and decided to take the legal route if the agencies concerned do not address their grievances. They also threatened to boycott work once again. Khurda district contractual sanitation workers association president Mohan Nayak alleged that instead of paying daily wages to employees as per the labour law some sanitation agencies have been paying around Rs 90 to Rs 100 less. However, after protest they started paying the wage as per norms in August. 

Nayak further alleged while the payment is not regular, many sanitation workers do not have EPF accounts. He said the workers are being paid Rs 96 less than the daily wage of Rs 326. Hundreds of members of the association have been protesting over this issue. They had even stopped sanitation service in five wards after which the two corporators and officials of the private sanitation agencies reached out to them and assured to resolve the matter, sources said. 

Nayak, meanwhile, said that the workers will be forced to lodge FIR against the agencies concerned if they fail to clear the arrears of the sanitation workers and do not pay wages or extend EPF benefit as per law. 
An official from one of the sanitation agencies, however, said that the matter has now been resolved following their discussion with the workers.