Chennayya has been working as a garbage collector in Vidyapeeta Ward (164), South Zone, for two decades now. The last time he was paid a monthly salary was in January this year, he said.
“Since then, we ask households to pay us something, which many refuse, but some give us little money. We also pick plastic from the waste we collect, sell that, and try hard to make ends meet. This has been one of the worst phases in my two decades of working as a garbage collector,” said Mr. Chennayya.
“We have held multiple protests against the contractor and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to no avail.”
Garbage collectors (drivers and cleaners), around 10,000 of them working under contractors, have held one-day flash strikes in at least 55 wards across the city over the last month over non-payment of their salaries for months now by respective contractors. “But neither the civic body nor the contractors seems to bother. There haven’t been any concrete assurances either. Still, we are collecting garbage every day,” said Tyagaraj, president, Karmika Samrakshana Trade Union, representing garbage collectors in the State.
“How can anyone be expected to work without pay for five months? Schools have reopened, and we are struggling to get our children admitted to schools, buy them uniforms, etc. When we demand our salaries, contractors point fingers at the civic body. BBMP is our principal employer, and they should ensure we are paid regularly,” said Mr. Tyagaraj.
Huge dues
The last payment made to garbage contractors was in December 2024, and BBMP has outstanding dues of nearly ₹300 crore. However, civic officials claim that though they are ready to make the payment, the contractors were blocking it.
“Solid Waste Management head has only been removed from BBMP and shifted to Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML). There is money in the company, and we are ready to pay. But contractors are insisting that they be paid from BBMP, leading to an impasse for six months now, but it has been resolved this week,” said Harish Kumar K., Special Commissioner (SWM), BBMP and CEO, BSWML.
However, garbage contractor Balasubramanyam said that they had got work orders from BBMP and they couldn’t now raise bills with BSWML. “The BBMP commissioner held a meeting on Tuesday and assured us to give a letter to each individual contractor directing us to deal with BSWML henceforth. We haven’t got the letter yet. Once we get it, we will raise bills,” he said.
PF not paid regularly
P.P. Appanna, of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions, a member of the Regional Committee of Employees’ Provident Fund – Karnataka, said that most contractors were not paying the EPF for garbage collectors regularly. “After I raised the issue in the regional committee, notices have been issued to all zonal commissioners, but there has been no response,” he said.
“While contractors promptly cut the employee’s contribution to EPF, they neither pay their share nor the employee’s share. Even when they pay the EPF promptly, we have come across cases where the garbage collector’s passbooks and ATM cards are with the contractors, and they without the approval of the workers withdraw money from EPF,” Mr. Appanna said.
Published – June 26, 2025 07:34 pm IST
