Pourakarmikas in Bengaluru celebrated their appointment as permanent employees of the Greater Bengaluru Authority at an event in Bengaluru on Sunday, September 9, four months after Chief Minister Siddarmaiah made the announcement.
Dozens of workers who are members of the All India Municipal and Sanitation Workers Federation affiliated with the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), attended the victory celebration conference in Bengaluru to make the realisation of a 20-year struggle.
On May 1, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah issued appointment letters to some pourakarmikas. Now, over 12,000 sanitation workers, who are mostly assigned sweeping duties, have received their appointment letters.
Nirmala, president of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Pourakarmikara Sangha, said that their movement had enabled them to achieve a salary of Rs 41,000 which was once Rs 2,000–5,000 a month despite working full-time, according to a press release.
“The entire country is talking about the victory of BBMP pourakarmikas. This victory was built on the relentless efforts of the union and the workers,” she said.
She also pointed out that pourakarmikas are largely Dalit and backward community women, many of whom are migrants, and that they would no longer fear arbitrary dismissals and wage delays that marked the contract system.
BBMP Pourakarmikara Sangha leader Maniyamma declared that the government must not stop with regularising BBMP pourakarmikas alone, but extend regularisation to all workers across sectors in the state.
“The victory of pourakarmikas is the result of decades of continuous struggle through our union. Unionising and fighting together has given us dignity and respect that was once denied,” said Maniyamma.
She recalled that less than a decade ago, pourakarmikas in Bengaluru were treated as less than human, called “garbage women” and “garbage men.” Today, she said, their work commands respect and dignity. Calling for unity, she added, “All workers across the country must be regularised. We must unite, organise, and collectively struggle against governments to secure our rights.”
Clifton D’Rozario, National Vice-President of AICCTU, demanded giving drivers and loaders permanent status, the implementation of housing and education welfare measures for pourakarmikas and the recommendations of the IPD Salappa Committee.
The Federation also released a booklet called the “Safaikaramcharis and other Sanitation Workers – The Struggle for Liberation” containing detailed accounts of pourakarmika movements across the country.