Memorandum Submitted to CM Over Sanitation Workers’ Status
Key Points:
- Jharkhand Aboriginal Ghasi Organisation Submits Memorandum to CM
- Group Demands Permanent Status for Contract Sanitation Staff
- Workers Employed Across Tata Steel, TMH, Tinplate Units
JAMSHEDPUR – The Jharkhand Aboriginal Ghasi Organisation has submitted a memorandum to the Jharkhand chief minister and the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner, demanding permanent status for cleaning and sanitation workers employed across various units under Tata Steel management.
According to the organisation, sanitation work is currently being carried out through a contract system at several units, including Tata Steel, TMH, Tata Motors Hospital, Tinplate Hospital, Tata Motors, Jubilee Park and Jusco School. However, the group argued that this work is inherently permanent in nature.
Representatives of the organisation said cleaning services are an essential function for any institution. They noted that even a single day’s disruption could lead to the spread of filth and raise the risk of disease outbreaks.
Despite this, workers engaged in these tasks continue to be hired through contractors, which the organisation said amounts to economic and social exploitation of the labourers involved.
The memorandum stated that workers employed in cleaning and sanitation had been permanent staff since the early days of the Tata company’s establishment. They were also provided basic amenities such as housing, education and healthcare at the time.
The organisation further claimed that people from the Ghasi and tribal communities have been associated with this work in large numbers since its inception. Even today, it said, generations from these communities continue to perform the same duties, though now as contract labourers.
The group has demanded that long-serving cleaning and sanitation workers be granted permanent employee status. It also called for housing, healthcare, education and other worker benefits to be restored as they existed earlier.
Similar demands over worker rights have surfaced repeatedly around Tata-linked establishments this month. Youth Congress workers had earlier staged a protest against Tata Steel demanding the reopening of KMPM Inter College. Meanwhile, a separate agreement saw GAIL and Tata Steel sign a deal to supply piped gas to 17 establishments in the city.
On the other hand, families in Kandra have staged an ongoing sit-in protest at Amalgam Steel demanding a compassionate appointment, while workers at Guwa mine had earlier halted iron ore production following the death of an officer. Elsewhere, Tata Steel UISL recently received a global award for water management, even as questions over contract labour practices persist within the group.
Through the memorandum, the organisation appealed to the state government and district administration to intervene in the matter and take appropriate decisions in the interest of the workers.
