STOP DISMISSALS, SUSPENSIONS AND ARRESTS OF SANITATION WORKERS, THE CURB CIVIC CORRUPTION AND WASTEFUL SPENDING, PAY SANITATION WORKERS FAIRLY. THE GOVERNMENT MUST NEGOTIATE WITH SANITATION WORKERS INSTEAD OF ISSUING NOTICES
Face2News/Chandigarh
The Sirsa MP, Former Union Minister, General Secretary of All India Congress Committee and CWC Member Kumari Selja urged the Haryana government to resolve the legitimate demands of sanitation workers through dialogue instead of resorting to dismissals, suspensions or arrests. She said issuing show-cause notices to employees would not provide a permanent solution to the ongoing dispute.
Kumari Selja said the government had been citing the financial burden involved in accepting the workers’ demands, but complaints of alleged misuse of public funds and corruption in municipal corporations, municipal councils and municipalities continued to emerge. She said curbing corruption and unnecessary expenditure in urban local bodies could free up resources to provide sanitation workers with fair wages, risk allowance and social security benefits.
Referring to Faridabad Municipal Corporation, Kumari Selja said action had been taken against officials and employees during an investigation into an alleged scam involving around ₹200 crore. She said serious allegations had surfaced in the case, including payments for work that was allegedly not carried out and the alleged division of development works into smaller parts to avoid the e-tendering process. Kumari Selja said similar allegations had also been raised by councillors in Sirsa Municipal Council regarding construction and payments related to streets. She said allegations that some streets were being reconstructed only two or three years after their earlier construction and that payments were allegedly made before completion of work required a fair and independent technical and financial investigation by the district administration.
Kumari Selja demanded a special audit of all urban local bodies in Haryana covering street, road, sewerage and sanitation-related works undertaken during the past five years. She said officials and contractors found responsible for irregularities should face appropriate action and any government money lost due to proven wrongdoing should be recovered. Kumari Selja said the government should consider using the savings generated by curbing corruption and wasteful expenditure to improve the wages, risk protection and social security of sanitation workers. She stressed that sanitation workers perform an essential public service, often under difficult and hazardous conditions, and their concerns should be addressed through meaningful negotiations rather than punitive action. “The government must listen to the workers and find a negotiated solution. Dismissals, suspensions, arrests and show-cause notices cannot substitute for dialogue,” Selja said.
She also called for greater transparency in the functioning of urban local bodies and said public money must be spent strictly in accordance with rules and for the intended purpose. According to Selja, an effective audit and accountability mechanism would not only help protect public funds but also create fiscal space for improving the working conditions and welfare of sanitation workers.
She reiterated that the government should immediately engage with representatives of the sanitation workers, examine their demands objectively and take a time-bound decision so that the prolonged dispute could be resolved in the larger public interest.
