Sanitation workers strike in Gurugram: MCG forms teams to collect waste

Deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav appointed four duty officers in all the four zones under MCG on Wednesday, to keep a check on the situation and to ensure that MCG employees are not threatened or stopped from performing their duties

The deputy commissioner on Wednesday imposed Section 144 of CrPc , prohibiting the assembly of over four persons in an area, due to the ongoing tussle between the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and outsourced sanitation workers, officials said.

Gurugram, India-April 26, 2023: A huge garbage dump on the old Delhi road near sector-14 Huda market, a tussle between the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and its concessionaire Ecogreen Energy over garbage collection led to no disposal of garbage from 20 secondary points across the city. The tractor drivers alleged that they have not received payment for the last five months so they have stopped collecting waste, in Gurugram, India, on Wednesday, 26 April 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav appointed four duty officers in all the four zones under MCG on Wednesday, to keep a check on the situation and to ensure that MCG employees are not threatened or stopped from performing their duties.

Yadav said strict action will be taken against anyone found obstructing any alternative system or mechanism prepared by the MCG to streamline the sanitation process in public interest due to the ongoing strike of the sanitation workers.

“We have prohibited the gathering of four or more persons. Directions have been given to the police for the compliance of the order. Anyone found violating the order will be booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” Yadav said.

MCG commissioner PC Meena said the civic body has formed teams to collect waste from the city after sanitation workers refused to resume work. “The outsourced sanitation workers of the MCG have again gone on a strike, demanding regularisation and wage increment. The strike resulted in the piling up of garbage across the city, causing inconvenience to the public. We do not want residents to face any hardships and have deployed our teams on the ground,” he said.

According to officials, 6,000 employees and contractual workers of the MCG are on an indefinite strike and have stopped cleaning streets, residential areas and public places. This has resulted in the pile-up of garbage in various city areas.

MCG officials said that their teams collected waste from Sector 14, Sector 17, Sector 12, Chandan Nagar, Bus Stand, New Colony Mod, Arjun Nagar, Pataudi Chowk, Madanpuri and other areas on Wednesday after they received complaints from residents.

MCG’s outsourced sanitation workers started their protest on May 23, demanding regularisation of contractual workers and recruitment of new workers. “We have been fooled by MCG officials who said that they will draft a proposal for the creation of new posts for sanitation workers. We will call off the strike only after we get some concrete solution from the civic body,” said Naresh Malkat, state secretary of Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh.