While the municipal workers’ protest over the delay in payment of their salaries was expected to cripple the civic works in east Delhi, residents claimed on Monday that the strike didn’t make much of a difference as “the situation was always this messy”.
“It’s not as if the area was spic and span before the municipal workers went on a strike. There have been multiple strikes in the area over the last few months, and the area is yet to recover,” said Laxmi Nagar resident Rajesh Sinha.
The employees of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) have been on a strike for the last five days. This is not the first time that the corporation has seen protests over the delay in salary payment. The municipal workers of north and east corporations have protested five times over the issue in the last two years.
“The corporations have completely failed to make a difference and control the sanitation situation in east Delhi. There was always a garbage problem in east Delhi. Now, the only addition is that garbage collection from homes has been hit,” Mayur Vihar resident Kavita Popli said.
The municipal workers’ strikes have also adversely impacted the civic bodies’ position in the Swachh Bharat rankings, compiled by the Ministry of Urban Development in 2015 and then in 2016. Of the total 476 cities surveyed in 2015, the Delhi civic bodies stood at at the 398th rank. Meanwhile, the individual corporation rankings made public in 2016 by the Ministry suggested similar rankings, with the south, north and east Delhi Municipal Corporations standing at 39th, 43rd, and 52nd ranks, respectively, from the 73 corporations surveyed.
Meanwhile, the authorities continued to seek solution for the salary issue. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia met the sanitation workers and alleged misuse of funds allotted by the government.
Also, some confusion prevailed regarding the strike as the Delhi government claimed that workers had called off the strike while the workers’ union threatened to intensify the protests.
“We have not called off the strike. The government is trying to promote its own agenda by spreading such rumours. We will continue to protest and take the agitation to the doors of MLAs and MPs to ensure that we get our salaries on time,” said Sanjay Gahlot, President of the Swatantra Majdoor Vikas Sayunkt Morcha.
