‘11 sanitation workers died in two years, compensation paid’

Ahmedabad: Eleven safai workers died in the state in two years ending on January 31, 2023, the state government told the assembly on Thursday.
The minister for state for social justice and empowerment, Bhanu Babariya, said it was the private contractors who hired labourers and forced them to go inside the manhole for the cleaning work.
Babariya was replying to a question by Jamalpur MLA Imran Khedawala.She said compensations were paid in all 11 cases. She said the government has issued directives and is giving grants for the purchase of safety equipments.
She said many labourers are not aware of the safety standards or the Supreme Court judgement in this connection and were going inside the manhole. The minister chose to table the reply on a question by Shailesh Parmar on how many FIRs were filed against the contractors.
To prevent any untoward incident while cleaning sewers, sanitation workers of municipal corporations, municipalities and panchayats are given different types of safety equipment, such as jetting machine, suction instrument, hydraulic trolley, drainage cleaning device, breathing masks, full body suits and gas detection gadget, she added.
The minister in reply to Khedawala’s question said that the Safai Kamdar Vikas Nigam has been formed for the welfare of the kamdaars. Congress leader Amit Chavda said that the government has formed the Nigam but it has given only Rs 13 crore to the Nigam. In March 2022, the government had stated that in 2020 and 2021, 12 deaths of safai workers were reported and the government had not paid compensation to any worker, said a senior Congress leader.