The municipal workers have alleged that the Central and State governments through their flagship schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Mission and others are “extracting work” without fulfilling promises made to them.
Participating in a State-wide demonstration under the banner of Andhra Pradesh Municipal Workers’ and Employees’ Federation on November 21 (Tuesday), the workers said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, before coming to power, had promised that he would regularise the jobs of all contract municipal employees. “It has been four years and we are still fighting for it,” said federation’s general secretary K. Umamaheswara Rao.
Demonstrations were held across the State on November 20 and 21 in front of the District Collectorates.
Municipal contract workers do not get more than ₹14,000 in hand for the work that fetches permanent workers nearly ₹30,000. “We demand equal pay for equal work. No matter how poor conditions we are living in, there is no one to care for us,” said a group of protesting workers.
Moreover, drivers of the ‘Clean Andhra Pradesh’ (CLAP) vehicles are not getting their due pay. “They should be getting not less than ₹18,000 but they are given somewhere between ₹9,000 and ₹12,000,” Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said.
