Garbage piled up on the streets of East Delhi on Tuesday as irate municipal sanitation workers struck work, protesting against not being paid for two months.
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), which has about 11,000 safai karamcharis , has been unable to pay employees on time due to an ongoing financial crunch.
Sanitation workers not only stopped garbage collection, they also dumped trash on the roads as a sign of protest.
Delhi Pradesh Safai Mazdoor Union president Rajendra Mewati said the workers were yet to receive salaries for April and May. The protesters threw garbage and blocked traffic at Jagatpuri Chowk and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“We will not resume work till all sanitation employees are paid their salaries for the past two months,” said Mr. Mewati.
However, EDMC Mayor Harsh Deep Malhotra said 70 per cent of sanitation workers had been given wages for April.
“The remaining 30 per cent should get the salaries this week. However, we can’t say anything about salaries for May as we are yet to get what is due to us from the Delhi government,” the Mayor added. The BJP-led municipal corporations have accused the Aam Aadmi Party-ruled State government of withholding funds.
Mr. Malhotra said the EDMC’s annual income was about Rs.1,200 crore, while its expenditure was Rs.2,200 crore.
“Our global share of taxes, grants for education, etc, have not been paid and so we are suffering a deficit.”
Workers in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which is running a month late on salary disbursements, will hold a meeting on Wednesday and may decide to go on strike as well.
This is the second time that sanitation workers have come out on the streets. In March, the workers’ five-day strike blocked traffic across the city, with heaps of garbage lying on the streets.
