23 days on, sanitation workers’ strike continues in Gurugram

Gurugram continued to see mounting piles of uncollected garbage on Friday as the sanitation workers’ strike entered its 23rd day

Gurugram continued to see mounting piles of uncollected garbage on Friday as the sanitation workers’ strike entered its 23rd day. The protesting Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) sanitation workers have extended their agitation until August 30 and warned of an indefinite strike until the Haryana government meets their demands.

The workers, protesting under the banner of the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, alleged that the government had failed to address demands raised in May.

The workers, protesting under the banner of the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, alleged that the government had failed to address demands raised in May.

Basant Kumar, president of the union’s Gurugram unit, said, “The strike will continue across Haryana until the government issues formal orders to regularise the 1,175 firemen and 13,000 contractual municipal employees, abolish the contract labour system and implement the demands agreed upon on May 13 this year,” he said.

“For a long time, we have been working on a contractual basis and forced to work for low wages of ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 under insecure conditions. This needs to be changed,” he said.

Mayor Raj Rani Singh said, “We have spoken to the workers. Except for one demand, we are ready to accept the others. We have been making every effort to ensure that the strike does not affect the cleanliness of the city.”

Meanwhile, residents have raised concerns over mounting filth on roads, with routine cleaning and road-sweeping services severely affected by the strike. Naveen Bhardwaj, a resident of Sector 10, shared that there has been no road sweeping in the Sector since the sanitation workers went on a strike.

“While the door-to-door garbage pickup remains unaffected, the road sweeping has completely stopped and it is affecting the cleanliness of the Sector roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, Savita Devi, a resident of Sector 46, said, “The roads are already dusty because of the ongoing construction, and with no regular sweeping, the dust and garbage keep piling up. There seems to be no accountability, and residents are left to deal with the mess on their own,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Preetpal Singh, joint commissioner (Swachh Bharat Mission), of MCG, said that MCG employees on its payroll were being deployed on the streets to ensure that sanitation and cleanliness services were not disrupted.