Civic workers to be posted near homes

MCD employees will be posted within 15 km of their residence

Ahead of the municipal polls in Delhi next year, the Delhi government said that the sanitation workers will be posted within 15 km of their place of residence.

There are about 65,000 sanitation workers in three BJP- led civic bodies. East Delhi Municipal Corporation ( EDMC) has 15,000 sanitation workers, while the South and North municipal corporations have 25,000 each. It has been observed that a large number of safai karamcharis in all the three municipal corporations have to travel more than 20 km from their residence to reach their place of work early in the morning.

“Sometimes it involves a travel of more than two hours in the morning to reach their place of work which affects punctuality as well as output. At the same time, it is inconvenient to this vulnerable section of workmen,” Ramesh Negi, principal secretary, urban development, said in his order.

Aam Aadmi Party had made its debut in the civic by- elections in May this year, winning five of the 13 seats for which elections were held. Sanitation workers of the three MCDs may play a big role in the civic elections next year.

“Commissioners ( of all three civic bodies) are authorised to effect inter corporation transfer of safai karamcharies only on above condition to ensure that they are posted within 15 km of their residence. The compliance of the order may be submitted within one month,” the government order said. While the AAP has blamed the BJP for the financial mess in the three MCDs, the BJP has been targeting the Kejriwal government for not releasing the funds required for paying salaries to the sanitation workers.

In his interactive show, Talk to AK on Sunday, the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held BJPled MCDs responsible for lack of cleanliness in the city. “The issue is political because Delhi’s cleanliness is not under the Delhi government but the MCDs. The BJP controlled MCDs have messed up the city’s cleanliness,” Mr Kejriwal said.