Overview
- After about 14–16 days of protest, workers temporarily suspended their strike on Friday following two-hour talks at Ripon Building with a four‑minister delegation.
- The government agreed to immediate measures including a Rs 50 daily food allowance from October 1, two masks a day, annual raincoats, women’s toilets and rest areas by the end of September, and about 160 battery‑operated waste vehicles for three zones.
- Officials also pledged to withdraw protest‑related criminal cases, create a sanitation‑workers welfare office on the GCC campus, allow a union office, and hold regular review meetings every two months to monitor delivery.
- The core demand to end the contract system and grant permanent GCC jobs was not resolved and will be taken up at a second round of talks scheduled for October 3.
- Unions warned they will judge the deal on written implementation because past promises were not always kept, and the outcome on permanency will hinge on state policy, budget decisions and a possible meeting with the Chief Minister.