BBMP pourakarmikas strike may raise a stink

BANGALORE: Don’t be surprised if you see heaps of garbage on roads in the city on Thursday. The BBMP pourakarmikas hired on contract basis will go on an indefinite strike at Freedom Park on Thursday, demanding an increase in their wages. Narayan, president, Karnataka State Corporation, Municipality, Town Municipality Powrakarmika Federation, said there were more than 15,000 pourakarmikas working on contract. Two years ago, the state government had fixed minimum wages for pourakarmikas. Workers at ‘A’ grade city earn `194 per day, ‘B’ grade city workers earn `164 and `134 for C grade city workers.  As Bangalore is an ‘A’ Grade city, pourakarmikas here have to get at least `6,600 per month. However, this has not been implemented and to protest against this, the workers will go on an indefinite strike from Thursday till the government order is implemented, he said.Narayan said Corporations in Karnataka do not follow government’s order. “We have reported our woes to the Urban Development minister, Labour minister and even to the BBMP commissioner. But no action has been taken so far,” he said. Further he said, “If a pourakarmika dies during work, compensation of `10 lakh should be given. Also, work should be given to the deceased’s kin on compassionate grounds.” Referring to the state government recruitment of 4,000 pourakarmikas to BBMP, he said that there were many pourakarmikas working on contract basis for the past 15 years, these workers should be made permanent.