Scores of sweepers and sanitation workers held a protest on Thursday after their “sudden termination” from their jobs in metro stations. Most of them had landed at metro stations on Wednesday, as they had been doing for three years, only to find out that their services had been terminated.
“I have a loan of ₹6 lakh and my work here is the only source of income for my family,” says Lakshmi, who protested along with at least 180 other workers in front of Nayandahalli metro station.
Workers said they were unaware of the change in the maintenance contract, and had not received prior notice that they would not be employed. Most of them had been associated with the metro for years either as labourers during the construction of Phase I of the project or as housekeeping staff after that. The sudden termination from their jobs has pushed many into financial crisis.
“My mother has been hospitalised and I’m unable to pay her medical bills. I fear that she will be discharged without treatment,” said one of the protesters.
Workers claimed that they had not been given salaries for two months, as well as bonuses and other incentives, and said they would file a police complaint if their wages were withheld. They have also approached the Karnataka State Safai Karamchari Commission with their complaint.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials said that the three-year tenure of the previous contractor, who had employed the housekeeping staff, had ended and the new contractor had taken over housekeeping works.
“The tender process has been followed and the old contract has lapsed. BMRCL has nothing to do with the termination of the housekeeping staff, as awarding of the new contract to someone else has been intimated to the previous contractor. We have paid the contractor as per the contract, and it is his responsibility to pay the workers,” said B.L. Yeshwanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL.
