A group of conservancy workers, who were terminated by the Greater Chennai Corporation earlier this year, staged a demonstration at Marina beach on Monday demanding their jobs back.
The workers said they had staged a number of protests, and met with senior officials and elected representatives since their termination in January, but no one has taken any steps to reinstate them despite assurances.
Hundreds of conservancy workers, who were engaged by the Corporation under the National Urban Livelihood Mission Scheme, particularly in Anna Nagar Zone, were terminated owing to the privatisation of conservancy work in additional zones. Many had complained that they had put in more than 10 years of service, but were terminated without any notice or benefits.
R. Sharmila, one of the conservancy workers who lost her job, said senior officials had been providing assurance that they would be reinstated. “We met the officials earlier this month. They verbally assured us that we will be taken back. However, nothing has happened. We have been hearing such assurances for many months now,” she said.
Highlighting that the majority of the workers who lost their job were women, the workers said the families were struggling to make ends meet without any income.
