Pourakarmikas unpaid for last 4 months, threaten suicide
- Pourakarmikas on contract were driven by desperation to protest in front of BBMP office
- The women complained that they had not been paid for the past four months
- The pourakarmikas have also threatened to commit suicide next week
FollowThe pourakarmikas were supposed to get the increased waged from ₹7,000 to ₹14,400 in August 2016. But, the BBMP failed to implement the government order to increase the salary. This was what we had reported back in March.
At that time, the pourakarmikas on contract had threatened to go on a strike and after being assured by the Bengaluru Mayor and BBMP Commissioner had called off their strike.
On Wednesday, the pourakarmikas were back on the streets, this time not to do their jobs but to protest in front of Joint Commissioner(Health) BBMP Sarfaraz Khan’s office. The BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha protested at Karmika Bhavan demanding equal pay for equal work for all contract pourakarmikas.
The protesting workers said they had been driven to desperation because of non-payment of salary for the past four months. And now things have come to such a pass that they will even commit suicide if their dues are not paid.
Along with this the pourakarmikas have also threatened to stop work and that will not make for a pretty sight in Bengaluru. The last times these contract workers took to the roads the city was left with tonnes of garbage. On June 14, central areas of Bengaluru like K R Market, J C Road, Gandhi Bazar, Avenue Road, BVK Iyengar Road, the narrow congested by-lanes of Chikpete, Hanumanthanagar, Basavanagudi, Mahadevapura were all overflowing with mounted garbage, following the strike by contract pourakarmikas. Another strike by them would mean a repeat of the June incident.
A report in the Bangalore Mirror quotes Muthyala, president of Bengaluru Pourakarmika and Contract-basis Pourakarmika Association. She says that despite promises of regularising pourakarmikas, it had not been done. They had been working all along and still their dues had not been for the past four months. Many of the women were struggling to make ends meet, pay children's fees and other bills. Contractors had been ignoring the payment schedule and if this continues, they will be forced to commit suicide in front of the BBMP office.
Giving the BBMP a deadline, she said, that if within one week they are not paid then the pourakarmikas will boycott work and commit suicide in front of the BBMP office.
