CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss condemned the state government for taking a decision to privatise conservancy works in Anna Nagar and Tondiarpet zones in Greater Chennai Corporation.

In a statement, Anbumani said that while sanitation workers have been protesting for over 100 days against the Chennai Corporation's decision to hand over conservancy works in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones to private companies, the Tamil Nadu government has now announced that similar privatization will be implemented in the remaining zones of Anna Nagar and Tondiarpet as well.

"The Chennai Corporation claimed that this policy decision was taken to ensure better and more efficient sanitation services in the city, " he added.

Rejecting the civic body's argument, Anbumani said that the same workers currently employed directly by the Corporation will continue to perform the same duties under private contractors. If efficiency improves only after privatisation, the fault lies not with workers but with the Corporation's administrative inefficiency, he added.

He further stated that the reasons cited by the Corporation for privatization are false, and that the real motive behind it is to benefit those in power. The DMK government has already handed over garbage collection contracts in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.

"With the new contracts for Anna Nagar and Tondiarpet, the government is preparing to allocate even larger sums to private companies, he alleged, accusing the government of staging dramas to justify these decisions. Privatization will jeopardize job security and reduce wages for sanitation workers, while providing profit to those in power," he said.