The work of cleaning up the ‘Swachh’ city Mysuru came to a halt with pourakarmikas employed on a contract basis here launching an indefinite agitation on Monday seeking the regularisation of their services.
The agitation here is part of the Statewide protest launched by contract pourakarmikas. The protesters staged a demonstration outside the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to remind the State government of its promise to regularise their services.
Over 35,000 pourakarmikas are currently working on a contract basis in the State. Of this, over 2,000 are working in Mysuru alone.
Srinivas, president, MCC Permanent and Contract Pourakarmikas’ Association, told The Hindu that cleanliness work had been stopped and would not be resumed till the services were regularised. The association said the State government would be directly responsible if their agitation caused inconvenience to the residents since collection and disposal of solid waste from households had been halted as a mark of protest. In a statement, the association said the Congress government had announced it would regularise the services of contract pourakarmikas but is yet to keep up its ‘promise’ made during the 2013 elections.
Despite ensuring that Mysuru received the ‘cleanest city’ tag for two years in a row, the pourakarmikas have been neglected. They have been risking their lives working in the most inhuman conditions to keep the city clean, the association said. The State Cabinet had on May 5, 2016, resolved to regularise pourakarmikas. But the government is behaving indifferently by not issuing an order even a year later.
Piles of uncleared garbage were found at various places across the city following the strike. The situation is likely to worsen if no intervention was made to resolve the crisis.
