Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 19 Aug: A crucial meeting was held at the Panchayati Raj Directorate, IT Park, Dehradun, today to discuss solutions to the problems faced by sanitation workers. The meeting, convened at the initiative of Uttarakhand Safai Karmachari Commission Vice-Chairman Bhagwat Prasad Makwana, was chaired by Urban Development Secretary Nitesh Kumar Jha and attended by union leaders, commission members, municipal commissioners and senior departmental officials.
During the meeting, Makwana stressed on the need to create new permanent posts for environmental workers and supervisors in line with expanding urban areas and to reinstate abolished posts. He pressed for immediate recruitment to vacant positions in municipal corporations, councils and nagar panchayats. He demanded that sanitation workers employed through the mohalla committees and outsourcing be paid wages equal to those of UPNL employees, and that workers with ten years of service under various categories be regularised under the Regulation Rules 2025. Makwana also raised issues such as ending the contract system, allocating land for a Valmiki hostel and training centre at Mayur Vihar, registering workers engaged in sewer and septic tank cleaning under the Namaste scheme, and establishing a welfare fund.
Jha acknowledged the vital role of sanitation workers and assured that the matters related to post creation and pay structures would be taken up at the government level. He said that the wages would be linked to an index to ensure regular increments, and directed municipal commissioners to ensure proper payment to outsourced workers. He ordered provision of safety equipment, ESIC and PF benefits, housing facilities and annual health check-ups for all sanitation workers, along with special camps for issuing golden cards. He confirmed that a welfare fund would soon be established.
Union leaders presented their demands during the meeting, and the officials assured necessary action. Among those present at the meeting included Urban Development Director Vinod Giri Goswami, Dehradun Municipal Commissioner Alok Pandey, Haridwar Municipal Commissioner Nandan Kumar, Panchayati Raj Director Nidhi Yadav, Commission Secretary Vinod Kaur and representatives of twelve sanitation worker organisations.
