After death of sanitation workers in Delhi, Gurugram civic body may purchase gloves, masks for staff

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has 2,200 sanitation staff and the expressions of interest state that the concessionaire will have to provide all its employees with masks and gloves from this month onwards as well as ensure that the process is completed before August 2019.

A day after four sanitation workers died in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) floated two expressions of interest (EOI) for providing masks and gloves to all its sanitation workers on Monday.

In Gurugram, MCG officials had assured workers that they would provide them with masks, gloves, boots, jackets among many other benefits after a 15-day strike by sanitation workers in Haryana in May this year.(File Photo)

The MCG has 2,200 sanitation staff in the city and both the EOIs state that the concessionaire will have to provide all its employees with masks and gloves respectively from this month onwards as well as ensure the process is completed before August 2019. Tenders will be floated Saturday onwards, MCG officials said. The MCG’s contractual staff of 2,150 workers, though, will not be covered under the EOIs, officials said, as the contractor is supposed to provide them the necessary equipment.

MCG officials claimed that the development did not come as an afterthought following the incident in Delhi. On Sunday afternoon, four men were killed and one critically injured while cleaning a sewage treatment plant in DLF Capital Greens, a residential complex in Moti Nagar.

In Gurugram, MCG officials had assured workers that they would provide them with masks, gloves, boots, jackets among many other benefits after a 15-day strike by sanitation workers in Haryana in May this year.

“The safety and security of sanitation workers is of prime importance, and hence MCG has been regularly providing the necessary amenities as mandated by the rules and law,” Yashpal Yadav, MCG commissioner, said.

“In the absence of safety apparatus, sewage workers are exposed to various kinds of bacteria and chemicals which lead to eye problems, skin problems, and allergies,” Dr Amitabh Parti, director of internal medicine, Fortis Gurugram, said.

Despite suffering various ailments and fatalities in the past, sanitation union officials are hopeful of the MCG’s latest venture. “We are hopeful that the MCG will keep its promise,” Naresh Kumar Malkat, a member of Nagar Nigam Karamchari Sangh, a sanitation workers’ union, said.

As per the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, civic bodies need to “ensure that the operator of a facility provides personal protection equipment including uniform, fluorescent jacket, hand gloves, raincoats, appropriate footwear and masks to all workers handling solid waste.”