A SDMC sanitation worker, who had not been paid his salary for five months, committed suicide on Tuesday. Banwari lal, 43, was a lone breadwinner of the family. His body has been found on railway crossing in Sarita Vihar.
Banwari lal lived in the JJ colony of Madanpur Khadar and is survived by four children and his wife. His job was made permanent by South Delhi Municipal Corporation in February 2014.
For the following five months, he was not paid his arrears. “It became a tough task for him to manage a family of six. He was the sole breadwinner of the family. When his service was regularised, he was not given his arrears for five months. We were struggling to make ends meet. There was no money for basic survival, so he had to take a loan which he couldn’t pay back till date,” said his son Rinku.
Sanitation workers led a massive protest at Karol Bagh and lajpat Nagar against SDMC on Wednesday for failing to meet their demands. “We led a protest in Shahdara on Tuesday and now will lead a massive strike against MCD very soon,” said Rajinder Mewati, president Delhi Pradesh Majdoor Congress.
The demands of Joint Front of MCD Unions include confirmation of contractual employees’ services, payment of arrears to those whose services were regularised in 2003 and 2004, and free medical facilities.