Safai Karmacharis roughen up cleanliness crusaders in Dhubri

DMB & Leo club members clash with municipal workers, stir enters 8th day

From A Correspondent

DHUBRI, Feb 16: The Safai Karmacharis of Dhubri Municipal Board (DMB) attacked Lions Club and Leo Club members when the latter were cleaning heaps of garbage piled up in the town even since the sweepers started their indefinite strike. The strike by the sweepers began last week, leading to heaps of garbage lying here and there in the town. With crows, dogs, pigs and cattle feeding on them the situation in the town is quite unhygienic, and this led members Dhubri Lions and Leo Clubs jointly launch a cleanliness drive in Dhubri town on Friday.

“All of a sudden, the safai karmacharis rushed to the site and attacked the members. They went to Lions Club office premises only to find it closed. They then went to the house of the Commissioner of Ward No. 6, Nirupam Ghose and shouted slogans against him. Ghose is also a member of Lions Club,” said Dhubri Lions Club secretary Sanjay Sethia.

Sethia said that they had nothing to do with their agitation and rather had a moral support for them. “However, to keep the town clean is also a moral responsibility of every citizen, and we were just doing that,” he said, and added that attacking club member  Goutam Sharma and shouting slogans against Nirupam Ghose were provocative and unfortute.

When contacted by The Sentinel, Ghose said that the safai karmacharis were campaigning that they had not got their salaries for over 17 months, but that was not true. “In fact, salaries for two months are pending to the safai karmacharis. Had they not started the strike, one month’s salary could have been paid. The union is using the safai karmacharis as a tool to intensify the strike. However, it is not a healthy sign to stop citizens from cleaning the town. The Board is seriously thinking to clear the outstanding salaries of employees soon,” Ghose added.  

Indefinite strike by Dhubri Municipal Employees’ Union entered eighth day on Friday. The Dhubri Municial Board has a total of 203 employees and workers, including 87 safai karmacharis and 50 muster roll workers.

When contacted, union general secretary Subhas Chandra Das warned anyone ‘trying to derail the strike and break the moral of the employees’.

“We’ve protested the move to derail our peaceful and democratic strike in support of our five-point legitimate demands. This board has no moral right to continue as it failed to pay the salaries of employees,” Das said.