CPM, NTK urge TN govt to act on cleanliness workers’ demands, fulfil poll promises

CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam and NTK coordinator Seeman on Sunday demanded the State government fulfil the demands of cleanliness workers who have been protesting outside the Ripon Building for the last 10 days seeking job regularisation. They have also been opposing privatisation of solid waste management in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones.

Responding to a comment by HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu claiming that the DMK did not make any promise of regularising the contract jobs of the cleanliness workers, Shanmugam said, “The State government is not only obligated to fulfil its electoral promises but must also proactively address the legitimate demands of protesting cleanliness workers.”

Drawing a parallel with the workers’ agitation at a private factory in Sriperumbudur, which saw a fair settlement only after sustained protests and court intervention, Shanmugam expressed confidence that the current protest would also conclude positively. “Governments should not wait to act until compelled by political or legal pressure,” he opined.

After meeting the workers, Seeman demanded CM Stalin fulfil his electoral promise to regularise their jobs. “As a Leader of the Opposition in the previous AIADMK rule, Stalin had expressed his anguish over the dismissal of over 12,000 contract workers then,” he recalled. “What is the need to privatise the city’s SWM? If everything is going to be privatised, then what’s the role of the government?”

He also wondered what prevented the government from regularising the jobs of workers who had worked for more than 12 years. “If the government cites financial constraints, it should cut down on unwanted expenditures. Cleanliness workers should be regularised fulfilling the ruling party’s poll promises,” he demanded.