In April last year, pourakarmikas had demanded that the BBMP give them half days as the scorching sun made their work conditions unbearable. While pourakarmikas are required to work from 6 am to 2 pm, the workers had requested that the working hours be reduced to 6 am to 11 am.
Several vendors licenses had expired in February this year, and despite many requests to the BBMP, there was no provision to renew them yet, Lekha Adavi, member of the All India Central Council of trade unions (AICCTU) told ET. “The BBMP is also supposed to conduct surveys as to the number of vendors every five years. The last survey was in September 2017,” she said.
Due to strong efforts by unions, pourakarmikas employed as sweepers were brought under a direct payment system in 2017. Still many pourakarmikas part of the collection and transportation of waste are under the contract system.
The amendments brought through the Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2023 allow an increase in the daily working hours from the present nine (including an hour of rest) to a maximum of 12 hours, subject to a total of 48 hours in a week.
Aggregator companies usually absolve themselves of any responsibility with regard to sexual harassment; many workers too choose to not make complaints public and guise it under other misbehaviour due to stigma