Protesting against non-payment of salaries, sanitation workers dump garbage on road

Protesting against non-payment of salaries, sanitation workers in Ludhiana on Tuesday blocked the road near the Middha Chowk’s compactor site with heaps of garbage.

They were holding a protest against the Municipal Corporation (MC) for its failure to disburse salaries to 154 contractual employees. These employees were outsourced by the corporation for sanitation duties and now, they are fumed over non-payment of salaries for eight to ten months.

The protesting workers said they were receiving only Rs 10,000 per month, which was a meagre amount. They even expressed confusion about their employment terms, stating that they were never told if their hiring was on a contract basis, DC rate or some other means. Their grievances were heard by members of the Municipal Employees Federation, who reached the spot and promised to resolve the matter.

The protest caused significant disruption for commuters, especially amid heavy rainfall, which exacerbated the foul smell emanating from the scattered garbage.

Delay due to ongoing probe in scam, say officials

However, MC officials attributed the delay in payment of salaries to an ongoing inquiry in a scam involving money being sent to “fake accounts”. They claimed that files of the 154 employees were linked to the alleged fraud, as these workers were not officially on MC records.

Area councillor Kapil Sonu said he was aware of the situation and had already discussed the same with Mayor Inderjit Kaur. He said if the employees had worked for the civic body, they should receive their due salaries. He had pledged to arrange a meeting with the Mayor to resolve the issue and ensure the salaries were released.

An official from the MC health branch said the employees were hired two years ago but their payments were withheld due to unspecified reasons and the matter was already in the knowledge of senior MC officials.

He said the final decision rests with the Mayor as the scam probe report was yet to be completed.

After an hour, the workers lifted the protest and left without cleaning roads. Later, area councillor Kapil Sonu managed to clear the refuse from the road.

Ludhiana