Garbage collection hit as JITF sanitation workers on strike

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 28

Garbage was piled up on the roadsides as the strike by workers of the JITF company entered its third day today.

Angry protesters dumped the garbage at Fire Brigade Chowk on Mall Road.

Around 400 JITF company employees, who collect garbage from 65,000 households in the city, have been protesting to demand end to regularisation of jobs.

The blocked the road near Fire Brigade Chowk. They protested throughout the day and raised slogans against the SAD-BJP ruling alliance.

In the morning, Mayor Balwant Rai Nath had reached the venue and assured the agitators that their demands would be fulfilled soon and asked them to call off protest but the latter were adamant on continuing it till their demand was met.

JITF company workers union president Sukhwinder Singh said sanitation workers get Rs 6,000 per month from the government, whereas an officer gets Rs 6,000 per day.

Naveeen Balmiki and Arjun said government is giving them false assurances every time and playing with their emotions, due to which workers are highly irked over this.

They said the state government had issued notification stating that those working on contract for more than three years were to be regularised.

The jobs of temporary sanitation workers should also be regularised as they have also been working on contract for more than three years, they demanded.

Due to the strike, the garbage from 65,000 houses and shops was not collected on the third consecutive day and the company didn’t even lift the garbage from 40 garbage collection points to take it to the dumping to site.

Permanent sanitation workers of the MCB cleaned some of the garbage collection points but when JITF workers came to know about it, they stopped it.

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said, “We are in talks with them and soon their issues will be resolved.”