Following the inspection, Chaudhari had a discussion with Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. In the discussion the grievances of the karmacharis were put in front of him. Chaudhari also gave certain recommendations to address their problems.
For a long time the karmacharis have been demanding permanent jobs and minimum daily wages of Rs 89 per day as in some places they get only Rs 72-73 per day.
Also proper masks and hand gloves have not been provided to them, said Chaudhari. She recommended that regular medical check ups of these karmacharis should take place and KMC should be more pro active in this regard.
Safai karmacharis also put forth the demand for free education for their children. Also, according to the municipal records 156 appointments on compassionate grounds, for the kin of karmacharis who died on duty, are still pending. The record also shows that about 157 workers have not received their pensions yet.
The Mayor, with the promise to consider their grievances, has taken note of most of the recommendations. “We will definitely take steps to provide them better living conditions and arrange for regular medical check ups,” said Bhattacharya.
He also said that in the past many safai karmacharis have died of psoriasis of liver.
“Though health check up is free for them, we need to be more pro active so that diseases are detected early,” said Bhattacharya.