With few employment benefits and mounting health risks, Redhills’ conservancy workers face a bleak future
Firstpost30 conservancy workers attached to the Naravarikuppam Town Panchayat in Redhills, a neighbourhood in the north-west part of Chennai, gathered at a community hall for a meeting on 6 February 2019. In the meeting, Jaibunisha and the others hesitantly narrated the ordeals they must overcome to complete their allocated task — collecting garbage from residential and commercial establishments, cleaning the sewer and stormwater drains, and disposing of the waste of nearly 18 wards, that altogether hold a population of nearly one lakh people. K Raman, State Secretary of Left Trade Union Centre and Tiruvallur General Secretary, told this correspondent that, “Despite getting no benefits, there are many contract workers who are waiting to be made permanent [staff> by the local civic body.” He also added that workers from outside were being recruited on a permanent basis even as longtime contract workers were still waiting for the same. With little to no employment benefits and mounting health risks, Redhills’ conservancy workers are facing a bleak future indeed.
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