Mosquito breeding checkers call off strike after assurance

DBC workers play an important role in checking mosquito breeding.

The domestic breeding checkers (DBC)—daily wagers who check mosquito breeding in localities—working with three municipal corporations have called off their strike after being assured by officials in a meeting their demands would be considered.

DBC workers had gone on strike on Monday morning and also held a demonstration at the Civic Centre, which houses headquarters of North and South Delhi municipal corporations, to press for their long-pending demand to regularise their job. (HT FILE)

The DBC workers had gone on strike on Monday morning and also held a demonstration at the Civic Centre, which houses headquarters of North and South Delhi municipal corporations, to press for their long-pending demand to regularise their job.

DBC workers play an important role in checking mosquito breeding. Every day they visit 60 to 70 houses to check if coolers, overhead tanks, and flower pots have stagnant water that could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying the dengue or malaria virus.

“We have had a meeting with the north corporation standing committee chairperson Jai Prakash and commissioner Varsha Joshi along with officials of the SDMC regarding our concerns. They have agreed to consider our demands and also gave us a written assurance in this connection. So we have decided to call off the strike. All 3,500 DBCs will return to work from Tuesday,” Madan Lal, general secretary, Anti-Malaria Ekta Karmchari Union, said.

NDMC standing committee chairperson Jai Prakash in a statement said, “The strike has been called off and the DBC workers have been assured their issues will be addressed as soon as possible.”

The DBCs returning to work will augment efforts by the municipal corporations as well as the city government to prevent vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, and chikungunya.

The three municipal corporations and the Delhi government have started campaigns to check diseases which are caused by mosquito bites.

Before this, DBC workers had gone on strike in March 2018 as well as raised the same demands.