Thousands of sanitation workers in the national Capital, who are fighting against the life-threatening Covid-19 outbreak, without requisite protective kits, are fearing for their lives after some of them got infected with the disease and many are at risk. Many of these workers were given gloves and masks a month back after they refused to join duty.
“They provided workers a cheap quality mask and gloves that too just once. Importantly, they never distributed it again considering the fact that these kits cannot be reused,” alleged Sanjay Gehlot, president of Safai Karamcharis Union.
Highlighting the apathy of BJP-run corporations, Gehlot said that they have nothing to do with the lives and death of their sanitation workers. “The condition of workers in cash strapped North and East Corporations is worst as majority of employees have been forced to use and reuse gloves, masks and other equipments and even many of them have not been provided any equipment,” he said.
“More than 67,000 sanitation workers employed in all three municipalities out of which 17,000 are in East MCD, 26,000 are in North MCD and remaining are in South MCD. Among these workers, majority are either daily wagers or substitutes are there are no recruitment of permanent staff. The first two categories get remuneration based on daily wage norms. Since North Corporation has not released salary of March month, these two types of sanitation workers are facing hardships during the lockdown days,” he said.
Jagdish Sood, who is posted in Rohini Zone, said that the corporation is putting out lives at risk by deploying us in Corona affected areas. “We are facing many problems altogether as there is no transport facility and many of us has to travel 8 to 10 kilometers to reach at our respective assigned wards. The situation is very difficult for women employee as they cannot cover such long distance on foot,” he said.
“We are not even provided sanitisers even after several requests were made. The officials are not following guidelines issued by Director (headquarter). The staff deployed in hotspots areas were told to use the same PPE again and again, said Bijender Bagdi, one of the sanitation worker posted in Karol Bagh.
Incidently, an assistant sanitary inspector from the north corporation and two sanitation workers from the south Delhi civic body have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Friday. Again, a nurse at Hindu Rao Hospital tested positive on Saturday for coronavirus on Saturday, following which the facility was closed down completely.
When asked, a senior official of north Corporation said that all the workers engaged in sanitation activities in non-hotspots areas are provided with mask and glove. “Those posted in hotspots areas are equipped with ‘Personal Protection Kit’ (PPE). We have provided all the possible support to our staff within limited resources,” he said.
A senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) official said that the civic body is taking every possible precautionary measure to prevent the infection of Covid-19 in its sanitation staff.
“We keep distributing safety to all workers from time to time. In Najafgarh zone, 5,000 hand sanitiser bottles of 100 ml and 10,000 soaps are distributed to the sanitation workers,” he said, adding that besides, 20,000 masks and 18,000 gloves are being also provided and asked them to wear while performing their sanitation related duties.
The official further said that in addition to this 30,000 Vitamin C tablets and ayurvedic medicines like Hritiki and Anu Tel are also given to them to boost their immunity and physical strength in Najafgarh Zone.
