Sanitation workers in East Delhi called off their strike on its 28th day on Tuesday. Swatchatta Karmachari Union President Sanjay Gehlot said the workers had decided to call off the strike after East Delhi Municipal Corporation Commissioner Puneet Goel promised them dearness allowance and bonuses before Diwali, The Hindu reported.
The commissioner also accepted the union’s demand for regularisation of contractual staff, The Times of India reported. Goel has yet to make any remarks on the matter. Union leader Deepak Pihal said the municipal corporation had agreed to regularise all contract workers till 2017.
On Sunday, the assistant commissioner of the Department of Environment Management Services issued an order for the regularisation of sanitation workers. However, the union refused to call off the agitation because the directive had not been passed by an authority competent to do so, The Hindu reported. On Tuesday, the assistant commissioner issued another order, which said it had the approval of Goel.
On October 4, the sanitation workers had protested outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kejriwal alleged that the Centre and the municipal corporations in Delhi have thrown sanitation arrangements into disorder. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation is run by the BJP.
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