For SWACH, wait for new contract gets longer

Joint Municipal Commissioner Suresh Jagtap said the proposal was pending and it should come through soon.

After a wait of nearly six months, the contract renewal of SWACH — an organisation of waste-pickers — is still pending. Although the proposal to renew the contract has been forwarded to the standing committee, no decision has been taken yet.

Joint Municipal Commissioner Suresh Jagtap said the proposal was pending and it should come through soon. The organisation, however, is tired of the long wait and have also issues over non-clearance of dues. Some of the waste pickers had met the PMC commissioner last week to discuss the issue.

SWACH board member Laxmi Narayan said, “The contract ended in September. It was supposed to start in January and citing the code of conduct reasons it has been kept on hold. Also, the contract mentioned that the civic body owed SWACH Rs 71 lakh of which Rs 65 lakh was cleared but there was a remaining amount which pertained to vehicle maintainance, welfare benefits as well as amount for waste-pickers who collected in slum areas.”

She claimed the civic body owes SWACH nearly Rs 69 lakh for vehicle maintenance, Rs 80 lakh for welfare benefits and Rs 60 lakh for those collecting waste in slum areas.

The earlier contract had expired in September 2013 and in January 2014, the PMC had decided to renew it. However, although the draft was finalised between the PMC and SWACH around March, it is still pending with the civic authorities.

SWACH claims there are not many changes in the new agreement. Narayan added that it is crucial that the civic body provides welfare benefits. which is mainly insurance cover, educational and mediclaim.

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First uploaded on: 05-07-2014 at 02:17 IST

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