No salary for 2 months, hundreds of Delhi safai karmacharis sacked: Public hearing told

By Sanjeev Kumar*
Hundreds of contractual sewer workers from different zones of Delhi, working under Delhi Jal Board have been removed without any prior notice in the past month. Most of these workers, who have been working since the past 10-15 years, were not given their salary for the last 2 months and were suddenly removed from their jobs this month.
No notice was issued by the authorities, and shocked by the sudden removal of hundreds of workers, there was a Public Hearing held at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi on 28th December 2023.
Around 300 workers from all across Delhi gathered for a public hearing, organised by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) in collaboration with other civil rights groups, sharing their grievances to the jury panel and the audience. The testimonies given by the workers revealed shocking realities of their working conditions.
Workers from Pritampura, West Delhi, said they were never told what their exact salary was and were paid in cash without any receipt by the supervisor. A worker, who chose to stay anonymous, said, “We have been working for 15 years, many contractors come and go, but we have to fight for our daily wage of Rs 450!” A worker working in Navjeevan Vihar added, he did not get his salary even for Diwali and Dussehra and his family has been surviving on loan since then.
A worker from Kalkaji, South Delhi, said he was suddenly removed from his job on 7th December without any prior notice or reason. In another case, a worker, from Eidgah store, approached the government authorities on non-payment of salary, but after the complaint was filed he was removed from his job and has not been hired by any contractor since then.
Such intimidation tactics are used by contractors which stops the workers from voicing their concerns.
Sanjay Gehlot, chairman, Delhi Commission for Safai Karamcharis, who was part of the jury, took cognisance of the plight of the issues and assured that he would take immediate action to release the due payment and ensure that their jobs are secured.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Colin Gonsalves, who was also part of the jury panel, told the workers, “Removing you without notice is illegal! Giving your salary in cash is illegal! Not giving you your complete salary is illegal!”

A worker approached the authorities on non-payment of salary, but after the complaint was filed, he was removed from his job

Other jury panel members were former MP and Vice-President, All India Kisan Sabha Hannan Mollah; Member of the State-level Shelter Monitoring Committee Indu Prakash Singh; National Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Amitava Guha; Director of the Centre for Workers Management Dithhi Bhattacharya, ; social worker Anil Varghese; advocate Harnam Singh, who is also Chairperson, Monitoring Committee, Delhi High Court; and Meena Kotwal, founding editor, "The Mooknayak".

They heard the testimonies of 15 workers and gave the following recommendations:

Reinstatement of all contractual sewer workers and payment of all pending dues including wages, Provident funds and other social securities.
As per the minimum wages notification of Delhi government for unskilled labour (dated: 1st october 2022), workers must be paid a minimum wages of at least ₹ 17,494 per month.
While appreciating the effort of the Aam Aadmi Party government to regularize 700 contractual workers of DJB, they must regularize all contractual employees who have worked for more than 240 days and the gaps in employment should be considered a sham and bogus.
Implementation of court orders of writ petition (Civil) 5232/2007 in letter and spirit. Also implementation of the Supreme Court orders dated 20/10/2023 recommending payment of ex gratia of ₹30 lakh in case of death. The Jury also recommends that the compensation be paid immediately without any delay.
ESI and Identity Card for all workers in all sectors.
Provision of scholarship for children of sewer workers in educational institutions.

Union leaders decided to approach the CEO of the Delhi Jal Board with these recommendations and the workers decided to gather at the DJB Varunalaya till they are given their due salary and given their jobs back.
Other organisations which helped organise the public hearing included Municipal Workers Lal Jhanda Union (CITU), Delhi Jal Board Sewer Department Mazdoor Sangathan, All DJB Employees Welfare Association, Jal Mal Kaamgaar Sangharsh Morcha, Delhi Jal Board Karamchari Union, National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers (NCDRSAW), Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre (PMARC), Sewerage and Allied Workers Forum (SSKM), Vimarsh Media and Magadh Foundation.
---
*Secretary, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM); convener, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM). Click here for public hearing report

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Counterview

Search This Blog