Safai workers halt work for fifth day in Sivasagar

HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Aug 3: The safai workers’ strike in Sivasagar entered the fifth day on Wednesday. The casual safai workers demanded over Rs 20,000 salary per month besides other facilities which the Sivasagar Municipality Board (SMB) rejected as totally illogical. The chairperson of SMB Mrinali Konwar on Wednesday told this correspondent that SMB has been paying the highest amount to each individual safai worker in comparison to their counterparts in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Demow, Amguri, and other towns. A safai worker now gets Rs 10,300 per month and the SMB decided to increase it to Rs 11,300 from this month. But the Safai workers seem to be adamant in their demand and are continuing their strike. The safai workers say that they cannot maintain their daily expenses with their salaries when a liter of mustard oil costs around Rs 200 and a cylinder over a thousand rupees. They further demanded land pattas and other government facilities.
When the ward members took to sweeping the streets following the safai worker’s non-cooperation, a section of them got agitated and there was a scuffle between the safai workers and the SMB ward commissioners. The safai workers do the job only for three to four hours a day while the other master roll workers have to do their jobs for eight hours a day for an equal amount as their salaries. There are around 120 casual safai workers in SMB. To increase Rs 1000, the Board requires additional Rs 7 to 8 lakhs per month which is a heavy burden on the already overburdened Board. Responding to the administration’s requests, the safai workers returned to their jobs only for two hours.