Complaint against Nelliyalam Municipality for underpaying conservancy workers

National Commission for Scheduled Castes demands explanation from officials

After the National Commission for Scheduled Castes received a complaint from activists in Gudalur that conservancy workers were being underpaid by a private contractor, the Nelliyalam Municipality in Pandalur has been told to respond to the charges, with the commission demanding an explanation from them.

According to the complainant in the issue, S Sivasubramaniam, General Secretary of the Centre for Consumer, Human Resource and Environment Protection (CCHEP) in Gudalur, the private contractor who had obtained the contract from the municipality to hire around 50 daily wage workers, had agreed to pay each of the workers around ₹13,000 a month.

However, the contractor had paid the workers only ₹8,000 a month, Mr. Sivasubramaniam alleged, stating that the workers had no other benefits to which they were entitled to either.

While a section of the 50 workers hired by the contractor were being used by the municipality for “other” jobs , only 28 were employed in conservancy work, said Mr. Sivasubramaniam.

Around a month ago, when the conservancy workers had demanded full payment of their salaries and other benefits, the majority of the workers were reported to have been laid-off by the contractor.

Demands

As a result, the CCHEP has come out with a list of demands that the municipality needs to fulfil, including regularisation of the jobs of conservancy workers.

“There are labour laws in place which specifically state that conservancy workers, who are permanently employed, need to have their jobs regularised, and we have sent petitions to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, the Human Rights Commission and the Directorate of Municipal Administration,” highlighting the issue, said Mr. Sivasubramaniam.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, in a letter dated May 23, 2018, has asked for an explanation from the municipality regarding the same within a period of 20 days.

When contacted, the officials in-charge of the Nelliyalam Municipality said that they were investigating the claims made by the activist, and that they would submit a written response to the commission in the coming days.