Harish Rao seeks salary hike for sanitation workers

Former Minister T Harish Rao has demanded a salary hike for sanitation workers in line with rising prices. Crediting them for Siddipet’s progress and Swachh Survekshan awards, he said the BRS would raise their issues in the State Assembly.

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao demanded that the Congress government hike the salaries of sanitation workers in line with the rising prices of essential commodities. Talking to sanitation workers in Siddipet after distributing a pack of new clothes to each worker on the eve of the Dasara festival on Monday morning, Harish Rao credited them with the progress Siddipet town had achieved over the past 10 years.

Stating that the town had won a number of Swachh Survekshan awards during the past decade, Rao said this had been possible only because of the committed efforts of sanitation workers. While sanitation workers used to receive a meagre salary of Rs 8,300 during the Congress rule before the formation of Telangana State, he said former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had doubled their salaries during his tenure.

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Apart from this, the former minister said the BRS government had started paying salaries directly to workers, avoiding the involvement of middlemen. Rao said he had reduced the workload of sanitation workers by introducing sweeping machines and encouraging door-to-door garbage collection, thereby avoiding the dumping of waste in bins. He said the construction of underground drainage systems and the prohibition on rearing pigs within municipal limits had made life easier for the workers.

While interacting with the workers, Rao also had breakfast with them in the town. He said Mission Bhagiratha’s water supply had also reduced the workload of drinking water supply operators. The former minister said the BRS would certainly fight on behalf of sanitation workers by raising the issues they faced in the State Assembly.