Gurugram sanitation hit as workers skip duty over three months of unpaid salaries

Payments worth ₹4–5 crore to six agencies remain pending after a sanitation tender lapsed in September, impacting nearly 4,000 workers across the city.

Sanitation services across Gurugram have been disrupted after workers abstained from duty over non-payment of salaries, delayed due to procedural issues in extending a sanitation tender that ended on September 17 last year, officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) said.

Supervisors say attendance has dropped to a quarter of required strength, with contractors funding wages privately while awaiting MCG reimbursements. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Sanitation workers, supervisors and field inspectors said they have not been paid salaries for October, November, and December. Some workers said they last received their wages in October.

“Usually, we receive our salary by the 10th or at the latest by the 15th of the month. But for the past three months, we have not received any payment,” said a supervisor from one of the firms, requesting anonymity. He said many workers who commute from Faridabad have stopped reporting for duty, leaving only five to six workers available where at least 30 are required.

“If only a quarter of the workforce shows up, how can we be expected to clean the area properly?” he said.

Another supervisor said, “The contractor can pay us only when they receive funds from the above. A sanitation labourer’s salary is around ₹10,000—without it, how are we supposed to run our households?”

A manager from one of the agencies, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency owner had paid salaries of nearly 800 workers from his own funds and is still awaiting payments from the MCG. “The contractor covered one month’s salaries from his own pocket, but operations have been severely hit and it is becoming increasingly difficult to function under these conditions,” he said.

Kamal Singh, owner of Sukhmaa Group, said payments have been on hold since September, affecting day-to-day operations. “Our work has been impacted, and staff have been repeatedly demanding their dues,” he said.

Another contractor, requesting anonymity, said payments had not been received from the Corporation for the past three months despite assurances from MCG officials last week. “Almost 400 workers in my company have been affected, and I have paid their dues from my own pocket,” he said.

A senior MCG official acknowledged that salaries for all six agencies have been pending for the past three months. “Around ₹4–5 crore is due to the agencies, affecting nearly 4,000 workers. The previous tender ended on September 17 last year and was extended for another six months. We informed the state authorities and the bill has now been approved. The pending salaries will be credited to their accounts within this month,” he said, asking not to be named.