On March 5, the Supreme Court (SC) issued summons to the top officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The reason for it is not following a court's order that was issued in 2017. The SC called upon the commissioner of BMC, the deputy commissioner, and the chief engineer of solid waste management to appear today, March 19. Today's ruling and details are awaited.
The court's order from 2017 required the civic body to hire 2,700 contract sanitation workers on a permanent basis. However, only 1,600 employees have been made permanent.
The remaining 1,100 workers continue to work under contract. These workers earn a monthly salary of about INR 17,000. They are not eligible for any social security benefits such as pensions, provident funds, or gratuities.
The sanitation workers' organisation, Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh, has been fighting for the rights of these workers. The conflict began in 2007 when the organisation brought the issues of contract workers to the industrial court.
The organisation argued that 2,700 sanitation employees who started working for the BMC on a contract basis between 2004 and 2006 should be made permanent. This is in line with state law, which requires anyone who has worked for 240 days straight to be made permanent. After a seven-year legal battle, the court ordered the BMC to permanently hire these workers and pay them arrears for the whole period of their employment, excluding the first 240 days.
The BMC first appealed to the Bombay HC, but it upheld the order. It then went to the Supreme Court in 2016. The apex court's 2017 order required the BMC to make all 2,700 workers permanent and pay arrears from the date of the industrial court's judgement.
Following the order, the BMC hired about 1,600 sanitation workers on a permanent basis. However, approximately 1,100 sanitation workers were not hired on a permanent basis. According to reports, 400 of these workers were verified as becoming permanent.
Disappointed with the slow pace of permanentizing for the remaining 1,100 employees, the Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh petitioned the Supreme Court in 2018 for contempt. On March 19, the court called the municipal commissioner and other BMC representatives.
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