KARACHI:
This is a humble attempt at informing the leaders and people of Pakistan about the cruel, callous and unlawful treatment meted out to the sanitary workers. The 1,700 janitors employed on contract by the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC), many for more than 10 years, are being paid Rs14,000 per month, which is illegal and inhuman. They are neither registered with EOBI nor SESSI. They live a life of poverty, disease and hunger — specially designed and thrusted upon them by HMC. More torturous is the treatment given to contracted sanitary workers of WASA Hyderabad. They receive a meager amount of Rs10,000 per month.
All this makes a mockery of the Sindh government’s announcement of Rs25,000 as the minimum wage for all unskilled workers. WASA sanitary workers enter into sewage gutters, with no protective gear, and clean the filth with their naked hands. This is the nth appeal made to the Sindh CM to provide correct legal wages, as well as safety equipment to all janitors across the province.
Naeem Sadiq
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2021.
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