Bhubaneswar: Sanitation workers, who were protesting over salary hike among other demands at Rajmahal Square for the last two days, called off their strike on Tuesday after Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Mayor Sulochana Das assured them of a salary hike in three days.
Their demands included an increase in their salary to Rs 15,000 and the appointment of separate people to segregate the dry waste from wet waste.
Talking to the media, Mayor Sulochana Das said, “The sanitary workers had two major demands. They had demanded a pay hike. Concerned over their plight, the state government has decided to declare a hike in their salary in three days. Besides, they had demanded the BMC to appoint separate people to segregate the dry waste from wet waste. The state government has taken 15 days to take a call on waste segregation work.”
It is pertinent to mention that the sanitation workers earlier staged a protest over the non-fulfillment of their demands on February 24. However, their discussion with the BMC yielded no results on February 29. The state government’s delay in fulfilling their demands prompted them to launch an indefinite cease-work strike.
They alleged that the government and the BMC have turned a deaf ear to their demands even after repeated requests to hike their salary.
