Wednesday, October 3, 2018

East Delhi sanitation workers refuse to end strike until their demands are met

The demands of sanitation workers of east Delhi, who have been on strike since September 11, include regularisation of about 3,000 contractual workers who were enrolled after 1998, regular payment of salaries and clearance of dues.

As the city observed the fourth anniversary of the Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, the streets of east Delhi were strewn with garbage, lying on the roads since the past 22 days due to a strike by sanitation workers of the east Delhi municipal corporation (EDMC), which began on September 11.
delhi,EDMC sanitation workers strike,sanitation workers strike in east Delhi
The workers have refused to return to work until their demands are fulfilled by the corporation. The demands include regularisation of about 3,000 contractual workers who were enrolled after 1998, regular payment of salaries and clearance of dues.
Earlier, the striking workers had taken the matter to EDMC commissioner Ranbir Singh but did not get relief as the commissioner refused to regularise these workers, citing that it will add a burden of about Rs 1,500 crore on the cash-strapped municipal corporation.
The BJP-ruled EDMC opposed the commissioner’s decision and called a special house meeting for his impeachment on Monday. However, prior to the meeting, the EDMC commissioner went on leave.
The sanitation workers have decided to continue their strike.
“We never wanted the commissioner to get a transfer or face an impeachment order. We will continue our strike unless we get a solution. The agitating workers will not sweep roads, pick up garbage and gather outside the EDMC headquarters on Wednesday,” said Sanjay Gehlot, president of the MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union (MCDSKU).
Residents, meanwhile, said they want the civic agency to make temporary arrangements to end the mess. “The streets are stinking and garbage is all over the place. To end the nuisance, at least some temporary arrangement for lifting garbage should be made,” BS Vohra, a resident of Krishna Nagar, said.
In last three and half years, sanitation workers of the EDMC have struck work six times for non-payment of salaries, arrears, cashless insurance and other demands.
Gehlot said that though the Union government is spending crores of rupees in the name of “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, no one was bothered about the plight of the sanitation employees who work in very unhygienic conditions.
“We didn’t participate in the cleanliness drive to mark Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2,” said Sanjit Chandel, president of the Delhi Pradesh Safai Mazdoor Union.
EDMC generates about 2,600 tonnes of waste every day. “Due to the strike, we are able to lift 1800-2000 tonne of garbage from dhalaos. But no arrangement could be made for lifting garbage from roads,” said a senior official from the department of environment management services.
with thanks: HT: Link

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

CM Sahib, Can we meet tomorrow at 10 AM ?


Monday, October 1, 2018

Garbage And Misery Piles up for East Delhi’s Residents - Yahoo News



Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Since September 12 a section of sanitation workers haven’t shown up for work in East Delhi. This has resulted in garbage pilling up on the streets and there is no one to clean and clear the roads.
Tired of living amidst the stink and garbage, a joint front of East Delhi Resident’s Welfare Association decided to capture this menace with their campaign ‘Selfie With Garbage’.
“We started our campaign on the 17th day of the strike. We couldn’t bear the stink and condition of the streets. We had to do something about it,” says BS Vohra, East Delhi’s RWAs Joint Front President.
BS Vohra and others met officials from Delhi Government and the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) regarding the garbage hazards. While the former said that they’ve made the payments, the latter said they have no funds.
“Where does this leave us? We don’t see our streets getting cleaned at all. These are the politicians we voted for, elected them to power and they leave us like this,” says Vohra.
Vohra urges Delhiwallas to take a selfie standing next to garbage and share it with them. “This is the only way we can wake our sleeping politicians up. We will share these photographs with our netas.”
Vohra hopes that the authorities take some strict action and get’s this filth sorted out. “It’s been nearly three weeks and still no sight of the sanitation workers. East Delhi has now become the breading hub of all kinds of diseases,” says Vohra.

with thanks: Yahoo News: LINK

No end in sight to east Delhi’s trash woes - The Hindu

EDMC safai karamcharis demand arrears among other things; garbage piling up on streets since Sept 12


        East Delhi Residents’ Welfare Association Joint Front president B.S. Vohra took a selfie opposite Rashid Market in Laxmi Nagar on September 29 as part of his ‘Selfie with Garbage” campaign.
Garbage has been piling up on the streets of east Delhi for two weeks since safai karamcharis employed by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EMDC) went on strike, their fourth since 2015, on September 12.
Apart from regularisation, they have been demanding payment of salary arrears and benefits, like sanctioning of cashless medical cards and dispersal of retirement benefits, on time.
MCD Swachhata Karamchari Union president Sanjay Gehlot said on Sunday, “We are willing to call off the strike if all workers employed till 2017 are regularised.”
However, it is unclear when the deadlock will get resolved — thanks to contradictions between the bureaucracy and the political leadership within the cash-strapped EDMC, which is fighting the Delhi government for funds in court. At a House meeting on September 26, a resolution was passed directing the EDMC Commissioner to regularise all karamcharis employed by the civic body since 1998. But financial implications of this will be staggering, said officials.
“About 9,210 worker stand to be regularised. If this is done, the corporation will have an additional liability of ₹1,500 crore in arrears and an increase of ₹250 crore in monthly payment of wages. It will be imprudent for me to take such an action when we are already in the red,” said EDMC Commissioner Ranbir Singh.
Mr. Singh said he had put forth an alternative solution — as and when karamcharis retire, the same number of staffers be regularised on the same day. He claimed the proposal was accepted initially but rejected when brought in front of the EDMC Mayor and the Standing Committee Chairman.
“The political leadership is intervening and working counter-intuitively towards governance in the corporation,” he said.
Responding to Mr. Singh’s allegation, Standing Committee Chairperson Satpal Singh said, “He is lying about the karamcharis not taking up the offer because of us. We did not say a word or interfere.”
On the political leadership’s decision to move a motion seeking the EDMC Commissioner’s removal on Monday, Mr. Satpal Singh said, “The Commissioner is trying to make the political wing invalid. He is not even willing to start the process of regularisation. He is only interested in running the corporation like a business and figuring out ways to make money.”
However, EDMC officials maintained the corporation cannot afford to make all payments unless it gets funds from the Delhi government. Officials in the civic body’s Accounts Department said the corporation has a liability of ₹1,796 crore. Of this, arrears due to the nearly 7,000 safai karamcharis regularised in 2013 amount to ₹600 crore. The EDMC has been sanctioned ₹590 crore from the Delhi government this year and is expected to generate about ₹1,000 crore from other revenue streams, including property tax, fines and advertisements.
In a report submitted to the Chief Secretary on September 5, the EDMC had stated that it has a minimum monthly expense of ₹192.5 crore, including wages, contractual payments, medical expenses and court attachments. Following court orders, ₹60 crore of this amount is kept aside to pay salaries of safai karamcharis on time. The report said pensions and salaries of group A, B and C employees have been pending for two months, and gratuity and other retirement benefits since October 2015.
EDMC Deputy Controller of Accounts Hari Prasad explained, “The problem is not the amount the government disperses but the formula by which the funds are divided between the three corporations.”
While the government has not enacted the recommendations of the Fourth Finance Commission in full, which provide a new formula for distribution of funds to the three corporations, Mr. Prasad said, “They tell us they are distributing funds based on a formula given by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. But one corporation should not have a say on how much money another corporation gets.”
The Delhi High Court has on multiple occasions directed the city government to disburse funds to the corporations according to recommendations of the Fourth Finance Commission. However, the government has appealed against the decision and the matter is being heard in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the BJP-led corporation’s request to workers to get back to work has fallen on deaf ears. The EDMC even filed a police complaint against union leaders, alleging that they had threatened corporation employees.
“They [the EDMC] have been saying that they will fire us but they cannot do that,” said Mr. Gehlot.
Since the strike started, the amount of garbage collected has seen a dip. While an average of 2,212 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage was collected during the first 15 days of September, the collection amount after the strike has consistently stayed below average. EDMC officials said while 80% of waste — whatever comes from households — is still being collected but streets are not being swept.

‘Selfie With Garbage’

Meanwhile, the residents seem to have lost patience. East Delhi Residents’ Welfare Association Joint Front president B.S. Vohra, who started the ‘Selfie With Garbage’ campaign on September 29, claimed to have received 150 photographs on Sunday.
with thanks: The Hindu: LINK

#selfiewithgarbage - It's trending now !

Selfie With Garbage - Delhi Aajtak

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Selfie With Garbage - TheQuint.com

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Angry Delhiites Carry Out 'Selfie With Garbage' Campaign After Sanitation Workers go on Strike

Angry East Delhi Residents Carry Out ‘Selfie With Garbage’ Campaign After Sanitation Workers go on Strike
Representative Image
New Delhi: Enraged by the garbage menace, a joint front of east Delhi resident’s welfare association went on to start the ‘selfie with garbage’ campaign from Saturday. The motive of the garbage campaign is to highlight the plight of the residents and the failure of the authorities to address the issue, according to a Times of India report.
The ‘selfie with garbage’ campaign began after a group of sanitation workers conducted strike for the last 17 days on the streets of east Delhi. “It has been 17 days since east Delhi’s streets have been swept and bins cleared. No solution is in sight. The corporation says it has no funds. The Delhi government says it has released funds,” Times of India quoted B S Vohra, the leader of the RWA Bhagidari Movement, as saying.
People from various localities are clicking selfies with the garbage heaps on the roads and sending the photos to the joint front while appealing the public to participate in their campaign.
The result of the activity has revealed the alarming garbage issue in areas like Geeta Colony, Krishna Nagar, Dharampura, a few Vikas Marg markets, Kailash Nagar and Gandhi Nagar. The garbage menace is faced by the people at a time when the nation is celebrating the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 17-day long strike was organised by the MCD Swachhta Karamchari Union to address the irregularities in payment of arrears, to claim medical benefits and to regularise contractual staff. The Delhi government, however, has not allocated any funds despite their announcement in the budget. Mayor Bipin Bihari said, “Funds under various budgetary heads have been reduced to zero. Despite tall announcements in the budget, not a single paisa has been released to the corporations.”
with thanks: India.com: LINK