UP Sanitation Workers Paid Just Rs 750 A Month For 18 Years To Finally Get A Hike

Lucknow: A glaring tale of exploitation of part-time sanitation workers at the hands of the system has come to light from the Transport Department in Uttar Pradesh, where they have been working for years on a monthly wage of Rs 750.

The state government has intervened, and 24 such workers posted at different places over the last 37 years will now be getting Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. These workers have pleaded for the regularisation of their services.

“I have been working in Hamirpur since 1988. I have two children, and it is very difficult to make ends meet. I have kept on working in the hope that my wages will increase someday. I am getting older and my problems are increasing. The orders of the government to increase our salaries has brought a lot of relief and happiness,” said Asha Devi who is posted in Regional Transport Office (RTO). Her job involves reaching the office early and cleaning it. Afterwards, she attends to the officials.

Asha was among many other sanitation workers who were honoured at Lucknow on Saturday.

Her contemporary Ashok Kumar related that he has also been working at Pilibhit RTO since 1988. “Earlier, I was paid just Rs 100 which was increased to Rs 750 in 2007. I live with my wife and three children. I work in the office throughout the day. The recruitment of Class 4 employees has been stopped and we are the only ones left at the mercy of the officers. They give us money from their own pockets when we tell them that basic necessities like flour and pulses are not there in our homes,” he shared.

Sharing that two of his three children are married, he said that they have either studied up to inter or done graduation. He said that the increase in wages announced by the government will be of little help. He appealed to the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to regularise their services.

“I have become old. If I fall sick, I have to shell out Rs 300 to Rs 400 on treatment in a single day. We often fall sick while carrying out our job. We worked even during the Covid pandemic,” he related.

He was all praise for Transport Commissioner Brajesh Narayan Singh on behalf of all the 24 part-time workers for taking up their cause with the government.

Raj Kumar, who is posted at Ballia RTO, was employed in 1996 at a wage of Rs 100 which was increased to Rs 200 and subsequently Rs 750. Survival was very difficult for him along with his wife and eight children. Some of his children are now grown ups and have started earning. They are now of marriageable age.

“We will get relief with the increase in wages but the government should pay attention towards regularizing our services so that all our problems can be resolved,” he said.

Another such worker Pramod Kumar who is posted at Auraiya disclosed that although he has been working since 1998 but he was appointed as a part time worker in 2018 at a wage of Rs 750.

“I appreciate our officers and the government who have honoured us by calling us on the stage and have increased our wages. We will work according to the orders of the government. If the government regularizes the services of the 24 of us, the lives of our children will become better. We have spent our lives but their future will be better. We are worried about their future,” he said.

It was during a recent visit to Basti RTO that the Transport Commissioner had asked about the wages from an old woman employee. He was shocked to learn that she was getting only Rs 750. It was after this revelation that he started the process for increasing the wages of these part time workers which was later approved by the state government.

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