The general body meeting of the Kalaburagi City Corporation for the second day began with lengthy discussions on the recruitment process of pourakarmikas and ended with heated arguments, minor scuffles, and disruptive protests following a derogatory remark on Muslim women by a BJP councillor.
The arguments started after the BJP councillor Krishna Nayak remarked: “We have seen woman from the Dalit community sweeping the streets, but have you ever seen a burqa-clad woman sweeping on the streets?”
While Congress councillor Ayaz Tabbu Khan threw a chair to express his anger, Leader of the Opposition Ajmal Gola sat on the table before the Mayor in protest and demanded that Mr. Nayak apologise.
Mayor Vishal Dhargi adjourned the meeting for some time and called the councillors and tried for a compromise.
As soon the meeting resumed, Mr. Nayak tendered the apology to the floor of the House.
The first three hours of the meeting were spent on discussing the delay in the recruitment of pourakarmikas.
The Congress councillor Syed Ahmed asked the corporation authorities to give a reason for the delay in regularising the services of pourakarmikas. There are around 1,041 pourakarmikas working at the city corporation.
Assistant Executive Engineer (Environmental) Munaf Patel said that the Directorate of Municipal Administration had notified 258 posts of pourakarmikas in the corporation, including 132 pourakarmikas of direct recruitment and 126 posts on direct payment system.
The BJP councillor Krishna Nayak and the Congress councillor Yellappa Naikodi said the then Regional Commissioner and even the Directorate of Municipal Administration objected to the list of candidates selected as pourakarmikas by the corporation authorities, citing gross violation in the norms to recruit pourakarmikas.
They accused the corporation officials for including the names of pourakarmikas who joined recently and ignoring those who have been working at the corporation for over 20 years.
The councillors alleged that the corporation officials were delaying the recruitment process to protect the interest of recruiting agencies.
