The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has ordered the suspension of three sanitary officials after surprise inspections found 81 of 457 sanitation workers absent from attendance stands during duty hours, prompting fresh penalties for absenteeism and late reporting.
Municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar ordered action against officials from the Dhantoli and Mangalwari zones who were absent from the stands. The suspension orders are expected to be issued on Tuesday, according to the civic administration. Officials have also been directed to take strict action against sanitation inspectors and jamadars who report late for attendance checks.
The inspections were conducted on September 30 by additional commissioners Ankit, M Muruganantham and Milind Meshram, deputy municipal commissioner Rajesh Bhagat and chief sanitation officer Dr Gajendra Mahalle. Teams visited nine sanitation attendance stands to verify the presence of workers and supervisory staff deployed for civic cleaning duties.
In Dhantoli zone’s ward 33, Meshram inspected two attendance stands. At Trisharan Chowk, two of the 54 sanitation workers assigned there were absent. At the Ambedkar statue stand, nine of 67 workers were missing. The stand-in-charge sanitation inspector, Anup Tambe, and jamadar Akash Jadhav were also absent during the inspection.
At the Pagalkhana Chowk attendance stand in Mankapur, under ward 10 of the Mangalwari zone, additional commissioner Ankit found 29 of the 89 sanitation workers absent. Jamadar Ritesh Usarbarse was also not present, according to the civic body.
The NMC has decided to impose a fine of Rs1,000 on every absent worker and deduct one day of leave from the employee’s service record. Sanitation inspectors and jamadars who report late at attendance stands will face a penalty of Rs5,000.
The attendance stands serve as reporting points where sanitation workers and their supervisors are expected to assemble before carrying out cleaning duties. The inspection findings have placed the functioning of this monitoring system at the centre of the civic body’s immediate disciplinary response.
Deputy municipal commissioner Rajesh Bhagat said suspension letters would be issued shortly. “Surprise inspections at attendance stands will continue. Any officer or employee found absent will face action. Stricter action will be taken if absenteeism continues in future,” Bhagat said.
The NMC has not announced any change to the deployment strength or attendance system following the inspections. Its stated next step is to continue surprise checks and initiate disciplinary action against employees found absent or reporting late.
