Members of the Municipal Corporation Sangharsh Committee took to the streets on Saturday to press for their long-pending demands, including regularisation and cancellation of outsourcing contracts.
They marched to the residence of Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian, where a delegation met him and handed over a memorandum of demands.
Led by Naresh Dheegan and Vicky Sahota, the workers accused the state government for not fulfilling its promise of regularising employees.
“Many of our colleagues have crossed the prescribed age limit, but their jobs have not been confirmed despite years of service,” a protester said, adding that the struggle would continue until their demands were met. Mundian assured the delegation that their concerns would be conveyed to the Chief Minister and the Local Bodies Minister.
The protest prompted heavy police deployment around the minister’s residence. Security was tightened and movement was closely monitored to maintain law and order.
Along with regularisation, the protesters sought an end to contractual hiring in municipal corporations, councils and panchayats; direct recruitment in all departments; reduction of probation from three years to a year; exemption from medical tests; regular jobs for long-serving sanitation staff who were denied confirmation in 2021 due to age; and cancellation of a contract outsourcing household waste collection.