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Enforce tender guidelines, pourakarmikas urge BMP

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE May 25. The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Guttige Powra Karmikara Sangha and Supporters' Group of Powra Karmikas Movement on Sunday resolved to urge the Mahanagara Palike and the State Labour Department to strictly enforce the tender conditions of the new garbage contracts.

At a discussion on ``How to make the new garbage clearance system more effective and successful'', a group of eminent citizens, including the former Planning Commission Chairman, L.C.Jain, wanted the Mahanagara Palike to ensure that citizens were empowered in the administration of garbage clearance. ``Though this is one of the tender conditions in the new garbage contracts, it should not remain only on paper,'' the group members felt.

Besides, they wanted the Labour Department officials to implement the welfare schemes, including the payment of fixed wages of Rs.1,800, for the pourakarmikas.

Activists, Babu Mathews and Nagari Babaiah, a veteran Gandhian, Satyavrata, theatre personality, C.G.Krishnaswamy, the All India Bank Officers' Union leader, Godbole, and others participated in the discussion.

The group wanted the Mahanagara Palike to set up a citizens ward committee with representatives of residents associations, Mahanagara Palike officers, contractors and non-government organisations as its members. This committee should review garbage cleaning and ensure prompt clearance in their localities, the President of the Supporters' Group of Powra Karmikas Movement, C.Balakrishnan, said.

The Supporters' Group has been fighting for the cause of over 10,000 pourakarmikas employed by the contractors. The Government on August 29, 2002 notified that an interim minimum wage of Rs.1,800 per month be paid to the contract pourakarmikas.

The High Court of Karnataka also directed the Mahanagara Palike to bring into the effect new tenders from May 19 this year.

The Mahanagara Palike was also asked to ensure the payment of Rs.1,800 per month to all contract pourakarmikas and all other amenities due to them under the Contract Labour Act.

The discussion ended with the Supporters' Group urging Bangaloreans to come forward and join the citizen wards committee to ensure their effective functioning. The committee should give its approval to the Mahanagara Palike Commissioner, certifying that the work had been done, before the contractor's bill was passed, the members felt. The ward committee should oversee payment of notified wages on the notified date, in the presence of the Mahanagara Palike official concerned to all workers.

The committee should also ensure that all acts of sexual harassment of the workers at workplace are immediately dealt with, in compliance with the directives issued by the Supreme Court.

Dalit workers should be treated with respect and not discriminated on the basis of their caste, the members felt.

The group would submit a memorandum to the Mahanagara Palike Commissioner in this regard shortly, Mr. Balakrishnan added.

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