Civic workers housing, delayed wages and workplace safety emerged as urgent concerns in K.R. Nagar after a member of the Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission directed the town municipality to identify five acres of land for a planned residential colony for sanitation workers.
Commission member C. Shankar Ankanashettipura issued the direction during a grievance meeting for municipal sanitation workers held at the K.R. Nagar municipality on Wednesday, according to Prajavani – Mysuru. He instructed chief officer G.S. Ramesh to take immediate steps to identify the land and develop a well-equipped colony for workers employed by the municipality.
The commission member said sanitation workers provide an essential public service and should receive housing, plots and basic amenities. He also said their children should not be compelled to remain in the same occupation, and called for quality education and encouragement to appear for competitive examinations.
The directions covered a range of workplace facilities. The municipality was told to provide good-quality breakfast to sanitation workers, a rest room, two pairs of uniforms each year, suitable shoes, gumboots, gloves, masks and protective headgear. Workers were also to receive treatment for occupation-related illnesses, including skin and respiratory conditions, along with regular health check-ups.
The meeting also addressed facilities for women workers. The commission member directed that separate toilets be provided for women and called for access to Employees’ State Insurance and Provident Fund benefits, as well as monthly salary slips. He said sanitation workers should make use of government schemes available for their welfare.
Workers told the meeting that the municipality had not resolved several long-standing problems. Lakshmi, a municipal sanitation worker, said her husband, Lakshmaiah, had died 10 years ago after entering a manhole while working for the municipality. She said she had been promised a house after his death but had not received one so far.
Several workers also complained that wages had been pending for the previous two to three months and were not being paid on time. They said they did not have adequate housing or residential plots. These complaints place the proposed colony within a broader set of administrative obligations involving timely payment, social security, protective equipment and access to occupational healthcare.
The meeting was attended by chief officer G.S. Ramesh, in-charge assistant director of the Social Welfare Department Ramaswamy, district-level ESI and PF officials Ravinandan and Sandesh, health inspector Rajendrakumar, and engineers Madhusudan and Soumya. The immediate administrative step identified in the meeting is the selection of five acres for the proposed sanitation workers’ colony; the report does not specify a completion schedule or funding arrangement.
