Karnataka Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman Shivanna Kote expressed discontentment over the administration’s approach towards the development and welfare of manual scavengers and civic workers attached to Kalaburagi Municipal Corporation.
Addressing a media conference here on Friday, he said that he had, earlier in the day, conducted a meeting of senior district level officers and discussed the implementation of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 and issues related to pourakarmikas such as employment, payment of wages, distribution of safety tools and supply breakfast during their duty.
“The Commission is not satisfied with the measures that the administration has taken for the development and welfare of the pourakarmikas. It has found many inadequacies and directed the officers concerned to address them. We have also directed them to submit a action-taken report within 15 days,” Mr. Kote said.
Over 8,000 manual scavengers
Pointing to the 2013 survey that had identified 5,070 manual scavengers in 12 districts of Karnataka, Mr. Kote said that there could be another 3,000 or more manual scavengers in the remaining 18 districts, taking the total number to more than 8,000.
“Safai Karmachari Commission has given a one-time financial assistance of ₹40,000 to each of the identified manual scavengers to give up manual scavenging and find some other work. Organising skill development trainings for them so that they could find better job opportunities and come to mainstream and offering better education to their children would be our next targets,” Mr. Kote said.
Mr. Kote commended Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for taking steps to regularise the services of around 43,000 pourakarmikas as recommended by the Safai Karmachari Commission.
“In the first step, the Bommai Cabinet has decided to regularise 11,133 pourakarmikas. It is a gigantic step and the government has set a model for rest of the country… The pourakarmikas who are working under the contract system always complain that their employers don’t pay wages on time and provide them with other facilities they are entitled to. They also allege that employers make unreasonable deductions in wages. Keeping the complaints in mind, we are planning to cancel the contract labour system in civic bodies to protect the labourers from the exploitation of employers,” Mr. Kote said.
