As strike continues, Garbage lay piled up across the Capital, but for how long?

As the strike by sanitation employees of the North Delhi Municipal Corporate continues, garbage lay piled up on the streets of Delhi. Model Town, Timarpur, Rohini, Civil Lines, Sadar Bazar, Mukherjee Nagar, etc are among the areas that are worst littered. The strike, led by the Confederation of the MCD Employees Union, began on January 7. Along with sanitation workers were the employees of other departments such as nurses, teachers, engineers, clerical staff, etc. It was in light of the non-payment of their salaries for the last three months.

Though it has been almost a month since the strike began, protestors are still adamant on its continuation until their salary is not paid. “Our strike will continue and we will not return to work until salary of employees of all departments are cleared,” said Ram Niwas Solanki, General Secretary of the Confederation. However, this is not the first time that such strike has happened. What is required is a permanent solution for these essential workers, who play a vital role in our community and more so, amid the pandemic.

While salary payments have been stalled since October, sanitation workers are also demanding regular jobs. The North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash recently announced that the civic body has released an amount of around Rs 516.67 crore to pay for the pending remuneration of several employees. Meanwhile, recently, amid the strike by a group of civic employees, he went on to pick up trash and appealed to the workers to end their strike.

The ongoing matter over stalled remuneration of several months has come off as a burden for the city dwellers too. Residents have been complaining about garbage stench and how it is endangering public health as well.