The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its intention to take legal action against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its decision to regularize 5,000 sanitation workers. Raja Iqbal Singh, the Leader of Opposition in MCD from the BJP, stated that the AAP bypassed the statutory committee and used unlawful means to pass these proposals in the MCD house. The BJP plans to pursue this matter in court to hold the AAP accountable.
On October 31, the Municipal Corporation’s house passed the proposal to regularize 5,000 sanitation workers, which faced opposition from other political parties.
In response, Durgesh Pathak, the AAP MCD in-charge, criticized the BJP for allegedly going against the welfare of safai karamcharis (sanitation workers). He argued that the AAP had already regularized 6,494 sanitation workers within eight months, while the BJP had only regularized a smaller number in previous years.
Singh, representing the BJP, accused the AAP of spreading falsehoods about the BJP’s stance on making safai karamcharis permanent.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Gehlot, the chairman of the Delhi Commission for Safai Karamcharis, has also challenged the AAP’s claims regarding the regularization of sanitation workers. Gehlot clarified that the sanitation workers were already regularized in 2013-14, as per a policy from 2004. However, due to some financial obligations, these regularized workers continued to receive temporary payroll, which led to legal disputes.
Gehlot expressed his disappointment at not being able to confirm the regularization status for many safai karamcharis who have been working on temporary posts for up to 25 years. He emphasized that no new safai karamcharis have been regularized as claimed by the AAP.
