Hardeep Singh Gill, vice-chairperson, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), reviewed the working conditions of sanitation workers employed with the municipal bodies and listened to their grievances.
He was on a two-day visit to the district. A meeting in this regard was held at Bachat Bhawan here. Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Ojasvi Alankar, and senior officials of the civic body, the district administration and the police were in attendance at the meeting.
During his visit, Gill addressed a recent tragic incident at a local factory, where three workers lost their lives while cleaning a septic tank. He noted the FIR filed in connection with the incident did not include the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He asked the police to add the sections to the FIR by Wednesday.
In line with Supreme Court guidelines, the families of the deceased workers will get Rs 30 lakh each as compensation. Additionally, families belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) category will receive a welfare grant of Rs 8.25 lakh from the District Social Welfare Department.
The official reviewed various other issues of municipal workers, including salary delays, Employee Provident Fund (EPF) discrepancies, leaves and regularisation of workers from the 2022 batch. The MC was give a month to resolve all the matters.
At the same time, the district administration was given 15 days to form Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM)-headed monitoring committees to ensure the safety of sanitation workers.
