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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) council meeting on Tuesday witnessed a dramatic walkout by councillors belonging to the Left parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), in protest against the privatisation of solid waste management in two city zones and the midnight arrest of contract conservancy workers.
CPI(M) councillor R. Jayaraman raised slogans inside the council hall, condemning the civic body’s decision to hand over waste management in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones to a private operator.
He also strongly objected to the detention of workers under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), who had been agitating against the move.
CPI councillor M. Renuka supported his stand and joined in the walkout.
The Deputy Mayor, responding to the allegations, clarified that the arrests of the workers were carried out in compliance with a court order.
However, the protesting councillors dismissed this explanation and asserted that the Corporation had a responsibility to safeguard the rights of long-serving conservancy workers rather than transferring them to private contractors.
The dispute stems from the Corporation’s decision earlier this month to outsource conservancy operations in the two zones to a private company.
NULM contract workers, many of whom have been engaged in garbage collection and related duties for several years, opposed the move, demanding that they be permanently absorbed into the civic body with regularised pay and benefits.
The workers staged a 13-day sit-in protest outside the Ripon Building, highlighting their grievances. They argued that while the Corporation had been paying them a monthly wage of Rs 22,000 under its contract system, the private operator was offering only Rs 16,000.
This steep reduction in pay, along with uncertainty over job security, triggered widespread resentment among the workforce.
Councillors of the Left parties said the decision to privatise essential services like solid waste management would not only jeopardise workers’ livelihoods but also weaken the accountability of the civic body.
They demanded that waste management remain under the direct control of the Corporation and urged the administration to withdraw cases against the arrested workers.
The issue is expected to continue sparking debates within the civic body as the Corporation pursues its waste management restructuring plans in other zones of the city.