On Wednesday, the High Court of Delhi sought response from all respondents on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to pay pending salaries to the sanitation workers with all pending arrears.
The petition also seeks direction to provide health insurance, medical facilities to all sanitation workers & their families.
On Wednesday, the Division Bench of Justice DN Patel & Justice Jyoti Singh issued notices to Delhi Govt, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis & Union of India through the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in the matter & posted the matter for March 19, 2021, for the next date of hearing.
The Petitioner Harnath Singh, a former chairman of the Delhi Commission for Safai Karamcharis through Advocate Mahmood Pracha alleged that the respondents have failed to adhere to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for COVID-19 and have adopted an inhumane approach towards the Safai Karamcharis in failing to provide adequate COVID-19 safety gear & equipment.
The petition said that sanitation workers have been forced to initiate strikes & demonstrations owing to the fact that they have not been paid their wages for the last several months.
The plea says that the National Commission for Safai Karamchari, a statutory body established for the protection of the rights & interests of Safai Karamcharis under the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993, has also not performed its statutory functions in this crucial & significant period, is testament to the desperate circumstances being faced by Safai Karamcharis.
Plea added that the situation is not only having a deleterious effect on the Safai Karamcharis, their health & the health of their families, but also the health & sanitation condition of the City.
The plea said that the petitioner had earlier moved the Apex Court and Delhi High Court in 2020 raising the issue of lack of basic safety equipment's for Sanitation Workers.
The said plea was disposed of with the observation that the respondents had accepted that WHO guidelines for the provision of safety equipment to sanitation workers are binding on India & were being strictly followed.
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