Pourakarmikas (sanitation workers) across Karnataka launched a strike on July 1 demanding abolition of the system of contractual employment through contractors. The strike was withdrawn four days later, with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai promising to form a committee to work out the modalities for drafting the workers on permanent rolls of city corporations, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), in three months. Will solid waste management (SWM) in the State finally come out of the clutches of contractors then? The history of the struggle of pourakarmikas in Karnataka shows that this is not an easy goal.
The strike is the latest turn in a saga that can be traced back to 1976 when the Devaraj Urs-led government formed a committee led by I.P.D. Salappa to look into the issues of sanitation workers. The report of that committee, recommending direct employment of workers and welfare measures, is still awaiting implementation.
Most city corporations in Karnataka stopped direct recruitment of sanitation workers after liberalisation and issued contracts to vendors for sweeping streets as well as door-step collection and transportation of garbage. These vendors in turn recruited sanitation workers. These contractors slowly evolved into a politically well-connected and money-spinning lobby. Bengaluru, for instance, spends nearly ₹1,200 crore annually for SWM mostly through contractors and has faced allegations of bogus billing and kickbacks.
