Chennai: CPI state secretary M Veerapandian on Sunday urged the Tamil Nadu govt to withdraw its proposed move to privatise sanitation work in municipal corporations.“Sanitation work is an essential public service and should not be handed over to private companies. The govt must not facilitate the exploitation of sanitation workers through privatisation,” Veerapandian said in a statement.Referring to reports that sanitation services in corporations such as Tambaram, Avadi, Hosur, Vellore, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Tirupur, Madurai and Thoothukudi were proposed to be outsourced, he said a majority of sanitation workers in local bodies belonged to marginalised communities and would be adversely affected by the move.He warned that privatisation could deprive workers of job security, time-scale pay, pension benefits and other statutory labour protections.He also demanded the regularisation of temporary and contract sanitation workers.
