Sanitation workers protest Ludhiana MC’s waste mgmt project, fear loss of jobs

The state government has already suggested a contractor for the project, and a proposal to award the contract to the company was taken up at the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) meeting on Monday

Sanitation workers staged a protest outside the municipal corporation’s Zone A office on Wednesday against its proposed integrated solid waste management system, worth over ₹1,100 crore, fearing the project could leave thousands of workers jobless.

They seek withdrawal of proposed integrated system. (HT)

The demonstration was organised by the Sangharsh Committee, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, which urged the civic body to drop the proposal.

The proposed system is aimed at managing solid waste from door-to-door collection to processing. The state government has already suggested a contractor for the project, and a proposal to award the contract to the company was taken up at the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) meeting on Monday. The proposal was kept pending after opposition councillor and F&CC member Gaurav Bhatti objected to it being introduced at the last minute.

The Congress leader said the livelihoods of thousands of families were linked to door-to-door garbage collection and that the MC should first hold consultations with the concerned unions and consider their views before taking a final decision on the project.

“If the project becomes a reality, the thousands of sanitation workers working for the Corporation will be rendered jobless. If they have no more work left, what will they do?” he said.

Soni also alleged that sanitation workers were already not receiving their salaries regularly.

Mayor Inderjit Kaur did not immediately respond to calls or messages seeking a comment.