To add to the health crisis in Delhi, which is reeling under an outbreak of chikungunya and dengue, over 1,350 Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBC) with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) are planning to go on strike from September 29.
DBCs are daily-wage municipal staffers who visit 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.
If larvae is detected, a notice is given to the resident directing them to get rid of the stagnant water. If the problem persists on a second visit, a challan is issued. Many DBCs also carry out fogging in colonies.
Demands
The workers said that the decision to strike was taken as their long-standing demands of regularisation and medical facilities haven’t been met.
“Every year, we are promised that we will be regularised and medicinal facilities will be provided to us. Whenever we go on strike, the corporations agree to meet our reasonable demands. We feel bad that it is coming at this time, but it is at this time that we can be heard,” said Ashok Chaudhary, general secretary of the Anti-malaria Karamchari Sangh. A protest outside the Civic Centre will be staged on September 29 and no work will be done from then.
A letter in this regard has been given to the South Delhi Mayor, Commissioner and other office bearers.
Leader of the House, Subash Arya told The Hindu that if anyone tries to ‘blackmail’ them, then they will hire new workers.
“We haven’t received any notice from the DBCs. And if they are planning to go on strike at this time, when there is an outbreak of dengue, we will take action against all of them and hire new staff. These DBCs are hired on contract and can be removed,” Mr. Arya said.
On February 26, 2015, the SDMC had passed a resolution to regularise all the DBCs working with them, but it never happened.
Mr. Chaudhary said that the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, on August 4, had started working on providing medical facilities to their DBCs and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation was also working on the policy. “But the SDMC is not paying heed,” Mr. Chaudhary said. Apart from regularisation and medical facilities, the DBCs are also demanding salaries as per the Centre’s Pay Commission.
Salaries
At present, the 3,250 DBCs working in the three Municipal Corporations earn monthly wages of Rs.7,356 each, as opposed to the Rs. 2,000 they earned when they were first hired in 1996. The struggle for recognition and regularisation of their positions as civic body staffers has been going on for several years. “Even the High Court in 2011 directed the then MCD to regularise us,” Mr. Chaudhary said.
The recent outbreak of the vector-borne diseases in Delhi have claimed over 30 lives and affected over 3,000 people.
We feel bad that
it [the strike] is coming at this time [during outbreak], but it is at this
time that we can
be heard
Ashok Chaudhary,General secretary of the
Anti-malaria Karamchari Sangh
