16,000 Safai Karamcharis to be regularised by Delhi local bodies

NEW DELHI: The municipal corporations of Delhi have decided to regularise 16,346 safai karamcharis, and a ceremony would be organised to give them their appointment letters, announced Adesh Gupta, Delhi BJP President. The decision comes ahead of the civic body elections, which are set to take place in April.

The North Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) employs over 32,000 sanitation workers, 17,000 of whom are permanent. Around 14,000 people work in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), in which half of them are permanent, while 12,000 permanent and 8,500 temporary workers work in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). “All three corporations have already started the exercise of regularising these people,” Gupta added. Sanitation workers play a critical role in keeping Delhi clean, according to Gupta, and the party has always looked out for their interests and well-being.

The north corporation has already regularised 975 safai karamcharis, with another 6646 on the way. Similarly, the SDMC has regularised 400 such employees and is in the process of regularising 1489 more. In the EDMC, 5136 workers have been regularised, with another 1700 on the verge of becoming permanent. However, Sanjay Gehlot, Chairperson, Delhi Safai Karamchari Ayog, described it as a political gimmick because the businesses lack the financial resources to do so. “On the one hand, they claim they don’t have any money; how will they cover the higher costs? This is done just to pacify sanitation employees in the run-up to the elections,” he explained.