Gurgaon: Sanitation workers on Friday called off their month-long strike after reaching a settlement with Haryana govt.The settlement addresses the demand for regular recruitment against vacant posts. Several welfare measures were also cleared in principle.Workers would return to duty from Saturday following assurances, the employees’ union said. Haryana Municipal Employees’ Union city unit president and state vice-president Basant Kumar said, “Haryana govt has given us written assurances on our demands due to which we have decided to end our strike.”The decision was taken after a cordial meeting with urban local bodies minister Vipul Goel and cabinet minister Krishan Kumar Bedi, he said, adding that workers would begin efforts to clear the garbage that has accumulated across the city and other cities of the state during the agitation.The govt agreed that vacant posts of sanitation and sewer workers would be filled through a prescribed recruitment process. The selection criteria would be finalised within one month, followed by issuance of an advertisement within 15 days. A representative of the employees’ union will also be included in the selection committee, while recruitment against identified vacancies will continue within the stipulated time frame.The strike had continued for 37 days despite several rounds of discussions, with the workers having maintained that they would not resume duties merely on verbal assurances.The welfare measures include raising the compensation under the Mukhyamantri Haryana Karamchari Durghatna Bima Yojana from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in case of death of a contractual sanitation worker on duty.Contractual workers holding SBI savings accounts will be eligible for insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability and Rs 25 lakh for partial disability.The workers will also be brought under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), with the annual premium of Rs 9,203 per employee to be borne by the respective urban local body.They will get up to 20 days of medical leave annually, while service rules will be amended to facilitate promotion of eligible workers to Group C clerical posts.Govt agreed to increase the monthly pay of contractual sewer workers on municipal rolls by Rs 2,100.The settlement provides for a Rs 440 monthly uniform allowance instead of the earlier one-time payment.Annual medical examinations will be conducted for sanitation workers and sewermen — regular, contractual and HKRNL — at the expense of the respective urban local bodies.Earlier during the day, the sanitation workers in the city staged a protest at the old MCG office.
