Temporary sanitary workers stage wait-in protest on Tirunelveli Corporation premises

Temporary sanitary workers on Monday staged wait-in protest on the Corporation premises here to highlight their demands including permanency.

The protestors said the Tamil Nadu Government should make temporary sanitary workers,who had served for 240 days and more, permanent. They should be given daily wages of ₹762 a day until their services were regularised.

After deducting the Employees Provident Fund contribution from the salary of temporary sanitary workers, the private contract firm that hired them had failed to remit the deducted amount to the tune of ₹4.50 crore with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation. Besides forcing the private firm to remit the huge arrears, EPFO should initiate criminal action against it.

Since the private firm refused to give protective gear to the sanitary workers, the Corporation should terminate the contract.

In recognition of the sanitary workers’ commendable and daring service during the COVID-19 epidemic, the government should give a special incentive of ₹15,000 to them, said the protestors, who staged a dharna on the Corporation premises till evening and raised slogans to highlight their demands.

“We will continue the Statewide agitation until all our demands are met,” said R. Mohan, president of Tirunelveli District Rural Development and Local Administration Employees Union.