Make action plan to provide equal pay for equal work of sanitation workers: Panwar

Tuesday, 10 OCTOBER 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

The vice chairman of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) Anjana Panwar directed the officials to make a work plan to provide equal pay for equal work to sanitation workers in Uttarakhand. She also asked the departments concerned to send a proposal to the government for the one time settlement of the sanitation workers who have been working on a contractual basis for a long time. She issued this direction in a meeting held on Monday with Dehradun district magistrate Sonika, Dehradun municipal commissioner Manuj Goyal, Rishikesh municipal commissioner Rahul Goyal and officials of other municipal bodies and departments concerned. She directed the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) to raise awareness about the welfare schemes for sanitation workers through camps. She said that sanitation workers can get a loan ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs 50 lakh for a vehicle and education loan among others through welfare schemes. Besides this, there is also a provision of giving a loan of Rs 10 lakh to the sanitation workers’ children for studies in the country and Rs 20 lakh for studies abroad. These schemes are meant for the upliftment and rehabilitation of sanitation workers. She also directed to provide identity cards to all sanitation employees with all the necessary details including blood groups to ensure first aid can be provided in case of an accident. She instructed to conduct regular health checkups of sanitation workers as well. She said that sanitation workers should be paid their remuneration within the first seven days of every month directly into the bank accounts. She also instructed the municipal bodies to provide uniforms to all sanitation workers every year. Besides this, the officials were also directed to ensure the strict implementation of the Manual Scavengers and the Rehabilitation Act. All citizens must also be made aware of this act. She said that only machines should be used for sewer cleaning and no sanitation worker should be sent to the field without proper training, resources and equipment. Panwar also instructed the Labour department to make e-labour cards for the sanitation workers working in the unorganised sector. She also ordered municipal bodies and the departments concerned to interact with the sanitation workers once a month to listen to their problems. It will help the administration to stay aware of their issues and necessary action can be taken to resolve them soon, she added.