Strike by sanitation staff in east Delhi enters ninth day
The agitating employees are not picking up garbage from neighbourhoods to protest the non-payment of salaries and pending arrears.
Garbage piled up as a strike by sanitation employees of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) entered the ninth day on Thursday.
The agitating employees are not picking up garbage from neighbourhoods to protest the non-payment of salaries and pending arrears. EDMC mayor Bipin Bihari blamed the AAP government for the mess and said the employees could not be paid because the Delhi government did not release funds.
The sanitation employees are demanding regular payment of salaries, clearance of dues and regularisation of sanitation workers who have been inducted on a temporary basis till 2017.
The president of MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union, Sanjay Gahlot, said the sanitation workers would not return to work until they get a permanent solution to the crisis.
“Today (Thursday) again we have met the EDMC mayor but the meeting was not fruitful as this time we want a final solution to our problems. There are sanitation workers who have not been paid their salaries for the last eight months,” Gahlot said.
The areas worst affected by the strike include Dharampura, Kailash Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Trilok Puri, Kalyan Puri, Geeta Colony and Shahdara.
EDMC mayor Bipin Bihari blamed the AAP government for the strike and said the corporation would regularly pay as soon as it receives funds. “The corporation is not able to pay its employees and workers since it has not received any funds from the Delhi government. I appeal the CM to release all the funds of the corporation,” Bihari said.
Bihari said he had directed the EDMC officials to prepare a list of temporary workers and start the process of regularisation.
The Delhi government spokesperson did not comment.
