‘Book case against waste management firm’

Safai karmachari commission pulls up contractor for failing to provide safety gear to civic workers

Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman M.R. Venkatesh (second from left) speaking at a press meet in Mangaluru on Saturday.

The Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission on Saturday directed the district social welfare officer to file an FIR against Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt. Ltd. on several counts, including failure to provide safety gear to civic workers.

Commission Chairman M.R. Venkatesh told reporters here that he has asked the officer to file the complaint under the provisions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Prohibition of Employment As Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.

Antony Waste Management is the contractor chosen by Mangaluru City Corporation for solid waste management and maintaining cleanliness of the city.

After a review meeting of the state of civic workers here, Mr. Venkatesh said he found the workers were not provided safety gear.

Also, the workers were not regularly paid their wages and the provident fund was not being remitted. Wages were not credited to bank accounts even as the workers were forced to work from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., he said.

Case against KSRTC

Mr. Venkatesh said he would ask the government to file cases against the Managing Director of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for failure to maintain cleanliness in public toilets of bus-stands as well as facilitating overcharging of service fee.

Earlier, he visited the Bejai bus terminal of KSRTC in the city and was saddened by lack of cleanliness. Workers employed at such toilets were paid a meagre ₹200 a day in violation of the Minimum Wages Act, he added.

The Chairman said though the government was willing to regularise the services of civic workers who are presently working under outsourced system, confusion regarding their qualification has delayed the move.

With Chief Minister Siddaramaiah approving simple qualification, namely, knowledge of Kannada and physical fitness to carry out the work, the proposal should move forward, he said. In all, 29,000 civic workers have to be recruited as no recruitment took place for over three decades and about 17,000 would be recruited in the first phase.