The strike is fuelled by contractors who want to squeeze more money from the workers
People cover their nose to escape from the bad smell emanating from the huge pile of garbage which is covering almost half of the road in the city on Thursday. GHMC workers are still on strike.
Hyderabad: The real driving force behind the ongoing indefinite strike by municipal workers is not their demands but the contractors. Even the lowest paid worker pays a minimum cut of Rs 500 to the contractor. At present the salary of a contract worker is around Rs 6,700 per month, however 60 per cent of them are paid Rs 5,000 and the rest goes to the contractors.
The strike is fuelled by contractors who want to squeeze more money from the workers incase the government increases their monthly wages, say sources. Though the salary is fixed, different departments like sweeping, park maintenance, garbage lifting and transportation receive different salaries and the money is not deposited to bank accounts. Contractors are against opening bank accounts for their workers because it would then become clear exactly how much they are paying them.
The corporation at present spends more than Rs 300 crore every year for sanitation. The contractors take a commission of five per cent from this and pays the rest to the workers. Accordingly, of the Rs 300 crore plus budget, the tax component works out to Rs 30 crore, and if the contractors are to be paid about 10 per cent to 15 per cent, then Rs 30-40 crore goes into their kitty.
In 2011, when Navin Mithal was the GHMC commissioner, there was a proposal to scrap the contractor system and hand over the job to SHGs with less than seven members, so that the workers could directly deal with the GHMC. However, it did not take off. GHMC contract sweeper Sarita said, “We don’t have fixed salaries; workers even get paid as low as Rs 3,500 per month for sub contracts. Permanent employees hire workers on very low wages. The contractor takes somewhere between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 every month per head; when asked, they say that the GHMC has not released payment.”
“A senior contract employee is paid Rs 6,700 a month from which Rs 1,000 is deducted towards PF and ESI. With Rs 5,700, how can one pay for rent, food and education, apart from monthly expenses?” asked Vinay Kapoor, a GHMC registered union member.
16,000 tonnes of garbage in the city:
The city has accumulated over 16,000 tonnes of garbage over the last four days as 30,000 municipal employees are on strike. With this, whatever was achieved during the Swachh Hyderabad programme has gone down the drain. While the Met department has predicted moderate rainfall, even a heavy drizzle can lead to health hazards due to the mounting garbage. In Rajendranagar circle, five cases of dengue were reported on July 8. Meanwhile, there were no talks between the government and the striking workers on the fourth day of the strike.
With garbage not being collected, most of them are disposing their waste on the roads. Not a single road in the city has been swept since Monday. All the main roads like Marredpally, Nampally, Panjagutta, Somajiguda, Ameerpet, Old City and Tank Bund are piled up with garbage. The waste from hotels serving Ramzan dishes remain uncleared and even the '5 GHMC centres have not cleared.
General physician Dr H. Kishen said, “We are worried the most about malaria, dengue and other such diseases. Those suffering from asthma may suffer a lot.” Meanwhile, the GHMC engaged a few temporary laborers to clean certain areas. Speaking for the first time since the indefinite strike, GHMC commissioner and special officer Somesh Kumar said, “GHMC will deploy 400 vehicles that will be attached to 400 Swachh units. These units are authorized to engage 20 laborers at Rs 350 per day to take up sanitation work. Around 86 monsoon emergency teams with 400 workers will be utilized for sanitation work; 18 enforcement vehicles with 60 workers will also be deployed.”
GHMC, meanwhile, has appealed to shop owners and traders not to dump garbage on the roads and has requested them to engage a vehicle and dump garbage at the nearest transfer station.
Will clear garbage: GHMC to HC:
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Thursday assured the Hyderabad High Court that it will clear garbage piled up on roads of the twin cities within two days.
Mr P. Kesava Rao, counsel appearing for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Cor-poration gave the assurance before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt which was hearing a public interest petition by B. Rajeswari, an advocate of the city, stating that garbage has piled up in huge quantities not only on either side of the roads but also on the roads due to corporation’s failure to remove garbage over the last few days.
Sarasani Satyam Reddy, senior counsel appearing for the petitioner told the court that huge garbage dumps were in every nook and corner of roads in the twin cities and the GHMC has failed to clear the garbage. Mr Kesava Rao said that due to the strike of garbage workers the GHMC was unable to clear the garbage and now it has initiated steps for its removal by using private vehicles and contract workers besides utilising left over staff.
The GHMC has sought the help of the police in view of apprehension that the striking staff may create obstacles in clearing of garbage from streets with the help of contract workers. While recording the assurance of the municipal corporation counsel, the bench posted the matter to Monday for submission of compliance report and further hearing.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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