Now, sanitation workers start chain fast in Abohar

Our Correspondent

Abohar, September 3

Members of the Abohar Municipal Safai Sewaks Union started chain fast as their indefinite strike entered 21st day on Tuesday.

Each batch will have five persons on daylong fast. This might be followed by hunger strike, the union warned.

After the union on August 21 turned down Abohar SDM Poonam Singh’s appeal to end their indefinite strike over non-payment of salaries, no one approached them to resolve the issue.

Paid only for two months this year and that too after two-week strike in July, the workers today raised slogans at the sit-in in the council complex against the Executive Officer of the council.

The SDM had told the taxation branch staff to get tough with defaulters to generate money to pay salaries, but there had been nominal collection.

Expressing solidarity with the union, BJP legislator Arun Narang criticised the state government and local Congress leaders for not arranging money to pay salaries to the council staff.

Hitting back, district Congress former president Sandeep Jakhar said at a media meet today that the BJP-SAD alliance was in majority in the A grade council for the past nine years. “They worked hard, but only to serve interests of land mafia. They even tried to sell a prime piece of land earmarked for park in Dharam Nagari to the brother of a party councillor. Their councillor Pramil Kalani had quit as council president early last year, but no meeting was called to elect successor or vice-president. At least 100 posts of sanitation worker were not filled. How can the BJP pass the buck onto the Congress, he questioned.

The strike has created garbage dumps on main roads and streets across the town.