March held against termination of sanitation workers

The Mazdoor Action Committee (Sanjha Morcha) organised a foot march here on Tuesday to protest against the termination of contractual sanitation workers of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. The march began from Hall Gate and concluded at the statue of Baba Sahib Dr B R Ambedkar on Heritage Street, where protesters raised slogans against what they described as the government’s anti-labour policies.

The temporary sanitation workers had been rendering services for several years. Members of the Mazdoor Action Committee alleged that dozens of workers were arbitrarily removed from service without any prior notice or written order.

Addressing the gathering, Nishan Singh said sanitation workers had been working with the Improvement Trust for many years under the contractor system. He said that on December 15, the workers were suddenly removed from their jobs without any explanation or formal notice. “No written communication was issued to us before our work was stopped,” he said.

He further stated that on December 25, the workers were called for a meeting with the Local Bodies Minister, but on the same day, their work was officially discontinued. “This has caused severe distress among the workers. Many elderly women, who have spent years working as sanitation staff, are now left without any source of income. Several young workers have also lost their livelihoods, pushing their families into financial hardship,” he added.

The protesters said that despite repeated appeals, no concrete response has been received from the authorities so far. They demanded the immediate reinstatement of the removed sanitation workers and an end to what they termed arbitrary and unjust termination practices.