Ex-corporators welcome PMC cut of 800 contract workers, seek probe into hiring

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to reduce the number of its contract workers by about 800. Former corporators have welcomed the decision. They have also demanded an inquiry into how contract workers were recruited, and into why permanent employees were transferred.

Former Leader of the Opposition Ujjwal Keskar, Suhas Kulkarni and former corporator Prashant Badhe wrote to Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on October 22. In the letter, they congratulated the commissioner for meeting permanent and contract sanitation workers. The commissioner had assured them that he would stand firmly with the workers if political leaders tried to intimidate them. The former corporators welcomed that assurance too.

The letter alleges that contractors are not paying contract workers on time, even though the date for paying wages has been fixed. The former corporators have asked the commissioner to look into these complaints and act against the contractors concerned.

According to the letter, the PMC has about 5,000 permanent employees. Despite this, an attempt was made to engage 4,800 daily-wage workers through contractors. It also alleges that permanent employees were sent to the roads and drainage departments against their wishes, though there was no need for such transfers. The letter alleges this was done to make room for additional people sent by contractors.

The former corporators allege that contractors have gained excessive influence over the solid waste management department. According to the letter, assistant commissioners were pressured to deploy more workers than needed. They also asked what work, other than cleaning, had been assigned to permanent employees, saying there is no written order or record of such work. The letter suspects that all this may have been done to make certain contractors eligible in upcoming tenders. These allegations have not been independently verified.

The letter says that, to the former corporators' knowledge, the commissioner has ordered a reduction of about 800 contract workers. They welcomed the decision but also demanded a close review of the recruitment process, the actual manpower requirement and the work of the employees concerned. Keskar, Kulkarni and Badhe have sought a thorough inquiry into all these matters and strict action against anyone found guilty.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to the Additional Commissioner (Estate), the Deputy Commissioner of the solid waste management department and the Deputy Commissioner of the administration department.