TN: Conservancy and OHT Workers Hold State-Wide Protests

Village panchayat conservancy workers and overhead water tank (OHT) operators staged demonstrations outside district Collectorates across Tamil Nadu on January 30.

They had a 6-point charter of demands, including a hike in salary, regularisation of jobs and pensions for retired employees.

The protest call was given by the OHT operators, conservancy workers and sanitation inspectors' state coordinating committee affiliated with the CITU.

They urged payment of monthly salaries without fail and payment of Rs 3,000 as a bonus for the Pongal festival.

They demanded a gratuity of Rs 3 lakh and a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 given to be given to retiring OHT operators.

Moreover, they demanded the DMK government fulfil its election promise of regularising jobs for workers who completed ten years of service as promised in its election manifesto.

There are about 3 lakh such workers under the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj who meet the basic needs of the 4.5 crore people living in more than 12,618 village panchayats across Tamil Nadu.

'MANY ORDINANCES, POOR IMPLEMENTATION'

According to the state coordination committee, various ordinances have been passed, but they are not being implemented.

"Seventh Pay Commission Ordinance 303 (11.10.2017) has not come into effect even after 63 months," said Santhanam, state president of the coordination committee.

"There is ordinance 385 (January 10, 2010) for permanent employment after completion of 3 years, ordinance 256 (May 28, 2021) for corona special incentive of Rs.15,000, ordinance 62 (2D) (October 11, 2017) for ensuring minimum wages, ordinance 89 for salary to be paid by the 5th of every month, ordinance 20 (February 4, 2021) wage hike for upper-level OHT operators and others. Yet the rulers are refusing to implement them," he said.

At the protest in Tiruvallur. Image courtesy: Theekkathir.

“These workers are only given a namesake title of a government employee; they are not receiving any social and legal protection or benefits,” he added

SCHOOL SANITATION WORKERS

The state coordination committee demanded the upcoming state budget session to announce the regularisation of school cleaning workers and hike their minimum wages. The state currently pays them a monthly salary of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500.

About 40,000 such workers are employed in 40,276 government and government-aided schools in Tamil Nadu.

SANITATION WORKERS

In 2018, the BJP government appointed 66,025 sanitation workers in Tamil Nadu, and Rs 206.04 crore was allotted for a monthly salary of Rs 2600.

These workers “are not paid directly by the state because that would make workers eligible for government benefits; they are paid through self-help groups such as the village poverty reduction committee (VPRC) and block level federation (BLF),” said Santhanam.

“CITU held several rounds of protests demanding to make them permanent and give them a pay hike. In December 2020, the wage was increased by Rs 1000, and now it is Rs 3,600,” he added.

MOSQUITO CONTROL WORKERS

Dengue and mosquito control workers protect rural people from diseases like dengue and malaria.

At the protest in Namakkal. Image courtesy: Theekkathir

“Each labourer is given Rs. 451 as daily wages. Out of which, Rs 200 is spent on vehicle costs, fuel, and food. They live on the remaining meagre Rs. 250,” said Santhanam.

There is one for each Panchayat and around 13,000 workers across the state. They work on an unsteady basis, unsure if they will get work the next day.

OVERHEAD TANK WORKERS

Towards the end of its tenure, the previous AIADMK government issued an order that the basic pay of OHT maintenance employees should be increased from Rs 2,600 to Rs 4,000 and implemented from April 2021.

But 23 months later, it has not yet been implemented, noted the coordination committee.

“In Tamil Nadu, workers in the local government are given different wages in each panchayat union. The government does not even care to provide uniform wages,” observed Santhanam.