Delhi: EDMC sanitation workers stage protest near CM Kejriwal's residence

New Delhi: EDMC sanitation workers, who are on strike for the last three weeks, Thursday staged a protest near the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to press for their demands, civic body officials said.

The employees are on strike since September 12 demanding regular payment of salaries and regularisation of workers.

"Sanitation workers are protesting outside my residence. BJP has misled them. I am going to talk to them and present facts before them. I am really worried about the sanitation arrangements in the city and the workers. They have to protest every two months to get their salaries," Kejriwal tweeted. 

A senior official said a meeting was underway between between the east Delhi Mayor and a sanitation union leader to resolve the issue. The Delhi government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would release Rs 500 crore within two days to civic bodies, which will help resolve the crisis that has arisen due to the ongoing strike by sanitation workers of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). 

"Sanitation workers are protesting outside CM's residence. There has been no instance of violence between protesters and police," another official said. 

The EDMC has around 16,000 workers, half of whom are permanent employees. The BJP-led EDMC on September 26 had decided to begin the process for permanent employment of contractual sanitation workers who were recruited after March 31, 1998. 

The president of MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union, Sanjay Gahlot, however, had said that since, there was no assurance of this resolution reaching its desired end from the authorities side, they would continue their agitation in east Delhi.