East municipal body initiates ESMA process

New Delhi, June 26

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has initiated the process of invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to end the ongoing strike by its sanitation supervisory staff.

The sanitation workers and guards and other supervisory staff of the corporation went on the strike from June 23, demanding the payment of their salaries pending for three months and recruitment on vacant posts.

"The process to invoking ESMA against striking sanitation supervisory staff was started today as efforts to negotiate with them met deadend," said a senior EDMC official.

The supervisory staff are not covered under the labour laws, so they cannot call a strike. Moreover, they are also preventing others from joining work, he said.

"The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act has sufficient provisions to terminate their services if they do not join duties. Even FIRs can be lodged," said the official.

However, the striking supervisory staff leader Mukesh Vaid said the strike will continue till their demands are met.

"We had given a notice of strike. No salaries have been paid to us for three months and nearly 150 posts of supervisory staff including santion guards and assistant inspectors are vacant but no one is paying any attention to it," Vaid said.

The corporation has made efforts to sort out financial issues and some results have been achieved. The process is underway to solve some other issues, the EDMC official claimed.--PTI