Council VC meets protesting sanitation workers, supports resolution through dialogue

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun

The protest by Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) sanitation workers entered its sixth day on Saturday. Uttarakhand State Backward Classes Welfare Council vice chairman Ashok Verma visited the protest and promised the workers that the government would soon accept their fair demands.

Safai Karamchari union president Sonu Khairwal and secretary Dheeraj Bharti met Verma and discussed their demands with him. According to the union, an agreement was reached on several points during the meeting. Verma also met Dehradun mayor Saurabh Thapliyal and discussed the workers’ demands, urging him to find a solution at the earliest.

Addressing the protesting workers, Verma said that the Uttarakhand government is committed to the welfare of its employees. He assured the workers that the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stands with them and that a positive decision will soon be taken on their demands. The demands include honorarium hike, the recruitment of 715 Paryavaran Mitras (sanitation workers) and revising the cut-off year for regularisation from 2018 to 2024 so that more sanitation workers can be made permanent.

Verma appealed to the workers to maintain calm and said that problems could be resolved through dialogue rather than protests and demonstrations. He also expressed confidence that a solution would emerge from the meeting between the union representatives and the mayor.