Contract sanitation workers at Malegaon Budruk Nagar Panchayat in Baramati taluka ended a two-day protest on November 9 after the municipal president and councillors arranged Diwali bonus assistance and sweets from their personal contributions, according to a report by Sakal – Pune.
The workers had begun the protest because the contractor responsible for their employment had not paid them a Diwali bonus. The agitation was brought to an end after Nagaradhyaksha Suyog Satpute, group leader Jaideep Taware and councillors visited the protest site, spoke to the workers and considered their demands.
The elected representatives decided to collect contributions among themselves and provide the workers with bonus assistance. A distribution programme was subsequently held outside the Nagar Panchayat office, where Satpute and the councillors handed over the assistance and sweets to all the contract sanitation workers.
The report said the workers are responsible for a significant part of the sanitation work in Malegaon Budruk. Their protest highlighted the dependence of local civic services on contract workers and the immediate impact of delayed festival payments on workers and their families. The report does not specify the amount of the bonus assistance or identify the contractor by name.
The representatives who participated in the intervention included Satpute, Jaideep Taware, advocate Rahul Taware and Vaibhav Khandale. Social workers Rahul Diliprao Taware, Balasaheb Taware and Mahesh Kadam were also present during the discussions and distribution programme.
Separately, clothes were distributed to women and men sanitation workers by advocate Rahul Taware’s friends’ group in memory of Ajit Pawar. The programme organisers said sanitation workers make an important contribution to the city’s health and development and that supporting them during a difficult period reflected social responsibility.
The protest ended after the bonus assistance and sweets were distributed. The report does not state whether the contractor has separately agreed to pay the workers a contractual or statutory Diwali bonus, leaving the underlying payment arrangement between the contractor and the sanitation workers unchanged in the available account.
