Contribution of the sanitation workers has been ignored with respect to the peaceful completion of Kanwar Mela, alleged chairperson of Santiation Karamchari Commission Chaudhary Kiran Pal Singh.
He said on Saturday while addressing the mediapersons that SSP and senior district officials were hogging praise from the State Government while the silent service rendered on the ground by the sanitation workers remained unsung. He warned the State Government that the commission will not tolerate such discriminatory mindset.
Sanitation workers should not feel helpless as the commission stands by them through thick and thin, he said while lauding them as the real heroes of the successful Kanwar Mela. “The State Government should never forget that the safai workers had braved daunting odds to keep the city clean during the mela and prevented any disease from afflicting the pilgrims and others,” he said, denouncing the State Government for its myopic approach.
Notably, acute crunch in the sanitation department is resulting in garbage being left dumped across the city.
Kiran Pal Singh said 3,436 permanent sanitation workers are there across the State working under different civic bodies. However, the figure would go up to 6,000 soon, Singh said. He added that 350 sanitation supervisors would be recruited on permanent basis across the State. It may be mentioned that 180 sanitation workers were enrolled on permanent basis in Haridwar district about two months ago.
As per the official data, 3.19 crore Kanwarias thronged the holy city during the fortnight-long Kanwar Teerth Yatra.
Singh said the State Government and several social organisations had set up a bad precedent by honouring police and district officials while keeping the sanitation workers at bay. “However, the commission will honour them soon in a separate programme,” he said.
Singh further said that as per the information provided by the secretary of urban development department, chairperson and vice- chairperson of the sanitation Commission did not have the right to appoint the representatives on behalf of the commission.
He also regretted that Chief Minister Harish Rawat rarely calls him at any of the programme he attends.