With chief minister (CM) Charanjit Singh Channi in the city on Monday, municipal corporation (MC) employees under the banner of Municipal Karamchari Dal blocked old GT Road (railway station road) and burned Channi’s effigy near Clock Tower seeking regularisation of contractual employees.
The employees also started a march towards the venue on Gill Road from MC Zone-A office, near Mata Rani Chowk, where Channi was addressing an event. But, they were stopped by police near the clock tower by installing barricades. Following this, the employees blocked the road for around half an hour. CM Channi was in the city to participate in a rally at grain market near Gill road.
Leaders of Youth Akali Dal (YAD), including district president Gurdeep Gosha extended support to the protesting MC employees. The union leaders accused the state government of discriminating against MC employees by not including them in the list of 36,000 employees to be regularised in the state ahead of assembly elections. The employees have been protesting against the state government over the issue for the last seven working days.
Chairman of the union, Vijay Danav and president Chaudhary Yashpal said that the sanitary staff are the real heroes who keep the city clean, but they are given meagre salaries. They added that the protest will continue until the demands of the union are fulfilled and the effigy of deputy chief minister OP Soni will be burned outside MC Zone A office on Tuesday, said Chaudhary.
{{/usCountry}}Chairman of the union, Vijay Danav and president Chaudhary Yashpal said that the sanitary staff are the real heroes who keep the city clean, but they are given meagre salaries. They added that the protest will continue until the demands of the union are fulfilled and the effigy of deputy chief minister OP Soni will be burned outside MC Zone A office on Tuesday, said Chaudhary.
{{/usCountry}}The protest was lifted after half an hour, with employees handing over a memorandum to MC additional commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal, who reached the protest spot.
Other demands of the union include introduction of the old pension scheme for all employees and cashless health insurance for employees.
Traffic movement disturbed
Heavy traffic jams were witnessed at old GT road (railway station road) after the employees blocked the road despite the presence of police force for around half an hour. The commuters criticised the MC employees for harassing the public in their fight against the state government.
MC employees submit memorandum with CM Channi
Meanwhile, members of Municipal Employees Sangharsh Committee, another union of MC employees, submitted memorandum with CM Channi seeking regularisation of contractual employees as many of them have been working in the MC for over a decade.