Mural on BBMP building lauds sanitation staff as they protest for better wages

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Pourakarmika Sangha has been protesting demanding equal pay for equal work and minimum wages of ₹30,000 for all workers.

The work on a mural honouring ‘pourakarmikas’, Bengaluru city’s sweepers, is on its last leg. The 30-feet high mural with two women -- Jayabai, a pourakarmika and Valli, a waste segregator was commissioned to give due credit to the unsung sanitation workers of the city. The painting on the outer wall of the Utility Building, a prominent building on the busy MG Road in the Central Business District (CBD), is expected to draw attention in the days to come.

The sanitation workers who held a protest outside the BBMP headquarters on Wednesday said that workers who have died while on duty did not receive any compensation either from the government or the civic body. (HT PHOTO).

Though this tribute is coming up on the building owned by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), those honoured on the wall are engaged in fighting for their rights with the BBMP. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Pourakarmika Sangha has been protesting demanding equal pay for equal work and minimum wages of ₹30,000 for all workers.

“Elderly workers were laid off without notices or workers were transferred. We want the elderly workers to receive due pension and dignity along with three months’ notice if a worker is being terminated. We are not provided with adequate safety gear or machinery. The workers who perform the work are constantly harassed by the policy supervisory authorities,” read a statement from the organisation.

Maithreyi Krishnan of BBMP Pourakarmikara Sangha said even though labelled frontline workers by the BBMP following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, their salaries and benefits continue to be controlled by the garbage contractors.

The sanitation workers who held a protest outside the BBMP headquarters on Wednesday said that workers who have died while on duty did not receive any compensation either from the government or the civic body.

Venkata Lakshmi, a Pourakarmikara said she has not been issued any gloves or proper masks. “We have to pick the waste with our hands and instead of the pushcart to collect the garbage, we are given sacks,” she said.

BBMP Special Commissioner, solid waste management, D Randeep said the government will take a decision on increasing minimum wages but added that the BBMP is paying minimum wage as per rules already.