THE Bihar Rajya Sthaniya Nikay Karmachari Mahasangh (AICCTU) is agitating and striking against the decision by the Nitish Kumar government to put sanitation workers under outsourcing. The Nitish government wants to make sanitation workers slaves of private contractors. They are depriving the workers of the right to regular work. The Urban Development and Housing Department of the Nitish-BJP government has declared all 143 Group D posts (including sanitation workers) of the Municipal bodies ‘dead’, thus ending all permanent posts and outsourcing sanitation work to agencies and private companies and enabling organized legal loot through privatization and NGO-ization.

In addition, even the daily sanitation workers currently working will have to work under private agencies. More than 30,000 sanitation workers across Bihar went on strike against this draconian decision to save their livelihoods and basic rights. Every citizen of Bihar knows that private agencies and companies loot about Rs 10,000 per month through each sanitation worker.

Tomorrow this very government will put these sanitation workers in detention camps on the grounds of being unable to prove citizenship under NRC-NPR. The biggest hit from these draconian laws will be taken by workers, dalits, and weaker sections. With regard to reservations in promotions for SC/ST the Supreme Court has said that this is not a fundamental right. This verdict is a violation of the rights of these communities. Reservation in promotions should continue to remain.

Supporting the sanitation workers, the CPIML demanded revocation of Order No. 2503 (dated 03-05-18) and Order No. 1435 (dated 05-03-19) and all other orders and decisions related to sanitation workers issued by the Urban Development and Housing Ministry of the anti-worker Nitish government which is depriving the rights of sanitation workers from better wages and regular appointment to regular jobs; create lakhs of posts for sanitation and other workers in all Municipal Corporations, Councils and Nagar Panchayats across Bihar in accordance with population ratio; Nitish Kumar should take away from BJP control  Ministries which are directly related to people’s welfare and which have been under BJP control for the past 15 years.
CPIML observed 11 February 2020 cross Bihar as Protest day on this issue.