E-Paper
Anti-malaria workers threaten strike over better salary, insurance
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Anti-malaria workers of Delhi’s three municipal corporations, who are tasked with the work of spraying disinfectants amid the Covid-19 pandemic, have threatened to go on strike from June 25 if their demands related to free monthly check-ups, life insurance of Rs 50 lakh and an increment in their stipend were not met.
Representatives of the workers’ association said their colleagues -- at least four employees tested positive -- had contracted Covid-19 but no help was provided by the civic agencies in terms of monetary help or treatment.
Anti-malaria workers comprise domestic breeding checkers (DBC), contractual field workers (CFW) and contractual anti-malaria inspectors. The three corporations employ nearly 8,000 to 10,000 contractual and permanent anti-malaria workers.
According to civic officials, contractual employees are generally deployed for anti-larva spraying, fogging and fumigation in residential and market areas to control the spread of mosquitoes. They also visit households and check breeding of mosquitoes.
But ever since the Covid-19 outbreak, they have been tasked with the work of spraying disinfectants.
Om Prakash Panchal, general secretary, Anti-Malaria Chaturth Shreni Union, said that during the pandemic, anti-malaria workers have been deployed in containment zones to perform “dangerous” task of sanitising those areas along with households.
Panchal said the civic bodies should provide life insurance of Rs 50 lakh for each anti-malaria worker who joined after April 1, 2020, and conduct monthly health check-ups.
These employees, both contractual and permanent, do not have any insurance cover.
“We are frontline workers in the fight against Covid-19. We were deployed in hots pots to sanitise these areas. We perform our duties risking our lives but we don’t have any life insurance. There are no health check-ups for us. We will go on strike from June 25 if our demands are not considered. We have already written to the authorities of all the three civic bodies but to no avail,” Panchal said.
Panchal said contractual workers are paid between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000, which is a meagre amount and should be increased.
During lockdown, we spent all this stipend to commute to our work areas so that the sanitisation exercise is not affected. We cannot survive with such a low income. It should be doubled at least for the period till the Covid-19 situation is normalised,” he said.
Jai Prakash, standing committee chairperson in North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said, “These workers are like our spine. They have played a very important role in carrying out sanitising exercises in containment zones. We had conducted Covid-19 checkups of all our employees and if anyone is left, we will ensure that they are covered. We had discussed their demands with the commissioner and will solve their problems as soon as possible.”
