What’s stopping govt from making Pourakarmikas permanent workers?

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Pourakarmikas, who currently work on contract, are demanding permanent employment from the state government.

The recent decision taken by the government regarding the regularisation of civic workers does not provide justice to the sanitation workers, says the Civic Workers’ Trade Union.

According to IPD Salappa’s report, 28,329 civic workers are serving in the BBMP, and the joint action committee of BBMP civic workers’ trade unions has demanded that their services be made permanent.

The general secretary of the union, Dr Babu demanded that salaried civil workers, drivers, helpers, and loaders should be made permanent and merged into BBMP service and regularised. “These Corona warriors who risked their lives in sanitation work during the pandemic have been exploited for decades.

They were not even getting minimum wages. We are demanding that all these workers should be made permanent employees,” said Babu. He also added that due to the wrong information provided by officials, Bommai regularised only 11 thousand workers.

“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has made some Pourakarmikas permanent, for which we congratulate the Chief Minister for his commitment. But due to this, only a few people got justice. This is unfair to the rest.

31 thousand sanitation workers are supposed to work as one civic worker for every 500 people in BBMP, and now 28,329 civic workers are working. But due to the wrong information of the officials, only 11,133 people have been made permanent,” added Babu.

Other civic workers’ leaders Subbarayadu, Jayaram, CM Venkatesh, Bhimajyoti Sena, Shankarappa, Narasimha, Jairaj, Krishna, Venkatachalapathy and civic workers were also present at the press conferencea