Firozabad BJP Mayor Protests With Sanitation Workers Over Delayed Salaries

BJP mayor Kamini Rathore sat on a protest alongside contract sanitation workers in Firozabad, taking a stand against the municipal commissioner over delayed salaries and other demands. She announced that she would not leave the protest site until the workers’ salaries were credited to their bank accounts.

The protest took place on Monday at the Municipal Corporation premises under the banner of the Uttar Pradesh Contract Sanitation Workers’ Union. A large number of sanitation workers, sewer helpers, door-to-door garbage collection workers and other contract workers participated in the demonstration.

The workers held placards and protested over the delay in salary payments. Along with their salaries, they demanded immediate action on several other issues linked to their employment, contracts and working conditions.

Mayor Kamini Rathore also joined the protest and sat with the workers. Her presence brought the dispute directly into the municipal administration, as the workers were demanding action from the same system responsible for handling their salaries and contracts.

Rathore said sanitation workers had earlier gone on strike on September 1 over their salaries and other demands. At that time, a demand had been raised to pay sanitation workers in Firozabad around 15 thousand rupees, on the lines of Agra.

According to the mayor, the MLA and the municipal commissioner had assured the workers that their concerns would be addressed. However, even after one month, the salary had not reached their bank accounts.

The mayor questioned how the workers could rely only on assurances when their payment had still not been made after a month. She said the workers needed a clear resolution instead of repeated promises.

After learning about the protest, the mayor called the municipal commissioner and other officials to the spot. The issue of the workers’ salaries was discussed in their presence.

Officials told the workers that the salary would be sent to their accounts after the required signatures were completed. Following this explanation, Rathore directed that the file related to the payment be brought to the protest site itself.

She then sat down with the workers and made her position clear. “Until the salary comes into their accounts, I too will continue sitting here with them,” she said.

The mayor said sanitation workers were a part of the Municipal Corporation family. She said they manage the city’s cleanliness system in winter, summer, storms and heavy weather conditions. Their salaries and other problems, she added, should therefore be treated seriously.

The workers have demanded a monthly salary of 15,007 rupees for unskilled contract workers and 18 thousand rupees for skilled contract workers. They also demanded that the salary be transferred directly into their bank accounts and that no deduction of any kind be made from the payment.

The union accused Sainath company of allegedly making contract workers sign an agreement containing improper conditions in the name of the contract. It demanded that this agreement be cancelled.

The workers also raised demands related to the families of contract workers who die during work. They demanded financial assistance of 30 lakh rupees for the family of a deceased worker and appointment of one family member in place of the worker who died.

In cases of natural death, the workers demanded immediate assistance of 25 thousand rupees for the family to meet funeral expenses.

The employees further demanded that the workers’ union be consulted before any worker is transferred or appointed. They also sought an SIT investigation into alleged irregularities in contracts connected with contract sanitation workers and other contract workers, as well as alleged discrepancies in documents.

The Contract Sanitation Workers’ Union warned that the agitation would be expanded if action was not taken on their demands soon. The union maintained that the workers were seeking payment of their pending salaries along with action on the wider issues raised during the protest.

With the BJP mayor herself joining the workers and sitting on the protest against the municipal commissioner, questions have been raised at both the political and administrative levels over the functioning of the Municipal Corporation and the contract system. The immediate focus remains on the file brought to the protest site and the assurance that salaries will be released after the required signatures are completed.