Sanitation workers : The pariahs who keep our cities clean

Working for daily wages whether rain or shine, the twin cities’ sanitation workers neither have any job security nor any other perks to help them with the safety hazards their jobs entail.

Often referred to by the slur ‘Choora’; a staggering majority of sanitary workers identify with Christianity and feel that they are subjected to ill-treatment because they are considered second-class citizens.

The work itself involves sweeping roads and streets, mopping the floors in government owned buildings including hospitals, or cleaning clogged manholes and drains.

One such worker is Joseph Gill, who has been doing it for 18 years now and is currently a hepatitis patient. “My father used to sweep as well before passing away due to asthma. I work every day despite my illness to make ends meet,” Joseph lamented. Taking days off is not a luxury that sanitary workers can afford. Peter Christ, another worker, said he barely makes Rs 17,500 a month and cannot even dream of a day off. Apart from the low pay, some feel that there is no respect for their work which is quite demeaning. “We are considered third-class citizens,” said Jacob Chaudhry, who mops the floors at a government hospital. Jacob, when asked about why he felt so, despondently stated: “Every year, the officers come to the hospital to cut the Christmas cake but they keep their distance from us. They do not even eat the cake; they just take pictures and leave.”

Peter, concurring with Jacob’s views, added that the officers frown upon them drinking water out of a glass so now they have to use disposable cups to drink water. Pastor Shahid Raza, General Secretary, CBA Workers Union of the Metropolitan Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi, which employs 3,000 sanitary workers, while talking to The Express Tribune, highlighted the severe problems and difficulties sanitary workers face.

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“Workers begin to clean the streets at 6 in the morning regardless of the weather. If they get sick, they cannot even get a Panadol for free. If they take a leave, their salary is deducted,” he informed, “if you take three or four vacations due to illness, marriage or death, despite 10 to 15 years of employment the job is terminated.

”Apart from the lack of job security, the safety hazards are not appropriately addressed either, with Raza stating that no protective equipment is provided.

This lack of any safety precautions puts workers at risk of developing lifelong illnesses like tuberculosis, asthma, and other respiratory and skin diseases according to health experts.

However, Arif Muhammad Khan, Senior Deputy General Secretary, CBA Trade Union of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which employs 800 sanitary workers, states that healthcare is free for all such workers. Denying claims of ill-treatment, he informed that the CDA provides protective kits to all its employees. “We use large machinery to do jobs like manhole cleaning so the workers are not at any risk,” Khan informed The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2022.