Ruckus at Ludhiana MC’s Zone D office as contractual workers hold protest

A ruckus was created at the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation’s Zone D office when members of the Rashtriya Safai Karamchari Mahasangh demanding regularisation of their jobs reached the office to hold a protest.

As the employees reached there, the police force stopped them from entering the main gate of the office, which led to a scuffle and resulted in the breaking of the main glass door and windows of the office entrance. Around six of the protesting employees were taken into custody by the police as they were forcefully trying to enter the office. During the scuffle, the police personnel and protesters also got injured.

The protesters wanted to lock the Zone D office, located at Sarabha Nagar. Panic was created in the office as employees were present in a large number and were raising slogans against the government. Despite the election code of conduct being imposed due to the upcoming Ludhiana West constituency bypoll, such an incident occurred, which created fear and distress not only among the MC employees but also among visitors who came to the office to get their works done. To keep the situation under control, the police arrested the protesters.

Vicky Sahota of the Rashtriya Safai Karamchari Mahasangh was leading the protest. He said they were opposing the contractual system and demanding regularisation of their jobs for which they had been struggling for a long time.

“The wait has been so long that some employees have become overage in the process and protests will continue in coming days as well and we will be protesting at all offices of the MC, located in Zone A, B and C as well,” he said.

He said they had submitted a memorandum to MC officials and given 72-hour ultimatum to stop the contract system and after the ultimatum was over, they reached the MC office in the morning to lodge their protest.

“We are urging the Local Bodies Department to issue regularisation letters to employees who had been working on an ad-hoc, contract, or daily wage basis. Many Class IV employees, including peons, sewermen, sweepers, gardeners and drivers, should be given permanent positions, as they have served the civic body for many years. These employees, as well as others in temporary positions, should be considered for regular jobs. The state government had already announced to regularise sanitation employees working on a contractual basis for various municipalities of the state in 2021,” said another protesting employee.

The protesting workers also raised their concern regarding the MC’s decision to outsource work of cleaning and maintenance of a few roads in the city.

“We will not let the MC to outsource the cleanliness work,” Sahota said.

Zonal Commissioner Jasdev Singh Sekhon said he came to know about the protest by ad hoc employees, it should had been carried out peacefully but they resorted to force and violence, which led to a scuffle and also damage of the public property. They tried to enter the office forcefully and also misbehaved with government officials. Such an incident occurred amid poll code being imposed due to the bypoll. The police have arrested those involved and a probe is being initiated by them.

MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal has asked to get an FIR registered against those who created vandalism in the Zone D office.