Mysuru: In a show of appreciation for those, whose efforts propelled Mysuru city from the eighth spot in the Swachh Survekshan in 2018 rankings to the third this year, district in-charge minister GT Devegowda on Sunday felicitated one pourakarmikas from each of the nine zones of the Mysuru City Corporation MCC ). Former mayor and pourakarmikas’ leader Narayan, who participated in the felicitation ceremony, called on chief minister HD Kumaraswamy to acknowledge the contribution of the civic workers, and fulfill the demands he had set before the government before the start of the Mysuru Dasara celebrations.Devegowda appreciated the mayor, the MCC commissioner and officials of the other civic agencies in the city for honouring the pourakarmikas. Emphasising the role education played in ushering change in their life, the minister said, “It is only by educating ourselves, and our children can we expect change. You must provide good education to your children. Also, pourakarmikas, who play such an important role in keeping society clean, must give equal importance to their health too.”On the eve of the Dasara celebrations last year, the pourakarmikas in the city went on protest, striking work for five days, unhappy with their longstanding demands remaining unfulfilled. The pourakarmikas had submitted a memorandum listing their demands, including abolition of the contract system, revision of the pourakarmika to population ratio from the existing 1:700 to 1:500. The civic workers had also expressed outrage at the MCC’s failure to implement the free breakfast scheme, which the then CM Siddaramaiah had announced for all pourakarmikas. “We have requested government to release arrears for failing to implement the scheme, which cumulatively amounts to Rs 4.5 crore, and once the arrears are released, each pourakarmika will get Rs 24,000 to Rs 25,000. We also want all underground drain workers to be designated pourakarmikas and not assistants,” Narayan said.Amjad Pasha is one of the long-serving employees of the MCC, and has been a pourakarmika for the past 26 years. Among those who was felicitated by GT Devegowda on Sunday, a beaming Pasha said, “The government and MCC are extending all benefits to us, and are ensuring our welfare. We are very grateful to them, and will try our best to help Mysuru bag the top spot next year.”However, it was not an entirely rosy picture for the MCC and the district administration. More than 200 UGD workers on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the Mysuru district in-charge minister GT Devegowda demanding that the government take steps to extend benefits and facilities that the sweepers were entitled to. Meanwhile, some UGD workers were also upset with not being extended an invitation for the ceremony. Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath said that all invitations were sent out generally, and no special invitation was sent out to anybody. “We knew that the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections would soon come into force, we would have had to wait for three months to acknowledge their efforts,” she added.

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