Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Chennai Sanitation Workers Press Sixth-Day Protest Against Waste Outsourcing

Over 1,000 workers are staging a sit-in at Ripon Building to demand repeal of the ₹2,363 crore, 10-year contract with Delhi MSW Solutions.

At least 1,000 sanitation workers in Chennai under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission have refused to report to duty | By special arrangement
Image

Overview

  • More than 1,000 NULM sanitation workers have refused to collect waste since August 1 and are occupying Ripon Building to protest outsourcing in Zones 5 and 6.
  • They oppose the ₹2,363 crore, 10-year waste management contract awarded to Delhi MSW Solutions, warning it could cut their monthly pay by one-third and strip them of PF and ESI benefits.
  • Overflowing bins and uncollected refuse have been reported in Ambattur, Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, raising public health and sanitation concerns.
  • Deputy Mayor M. Magesh Kumar has stated the outsourcing tender cannot be reversed, while Mayor R. Priya says talks with protesters are ongoing but have yielded no agreement.
  • Trade unions argue that the move breaks Chief Minister MK Stalin’s 2021 promise to regularise sanitation jobs and exacerbates insecurity among predominantly female, Scheduled Caste workers.