00:00Jai Beem, this is Babak Basha. I am Deepti Sukumak for Dalit Lives Matter.
00:07On August 1st, the sanitation workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation, when they reported for work, they were informed by their officers that they no longer were employed there and they had to go and register with the Ramki Corporation.
00:30Which is a private company limited as a contract employment under the Ramki Corporation.
00:37They were shocked. They have been working with Greater Chennai Corporation as sanitation workers on daily wages for more than 15 to 20 years.
00:48All of them have been in the same employment. According to them, they are under the NUL and that is the National Urban Livelihood Scheme of the Government of India.
01:01And under that they have been employed on daily wages as sanitation workers in the Greater Chennai Corporation.
01:08They have reported that they have been working there for the last 15 to 20 years. Some of them have even worked for more than 20 years.
01:16They started with a daily wage of just Rs. 100 and they were getting a monthly wage of only about Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000.
01:26Slowly it increased to about Rs. 6,000. Till from the month of June and July, they were receiving a monthly amount of Rs. 23,000 on a daily wage basis of about Rs. 700 per day.
01:42So when they inquired about this Ramki Corporation, they were shocked to be informed or to come to know that they would only be receiving about Rs. 15,000 as monthly wages in hand after the deductions of Provident Fund and ESL.
02:02Now almost all of them, even though they have been working for more than 15 years in the Greater Chennai Corporation, have been heavily indebted because of their paying of the children's education fees, hospital expenses and many other essential expenses in their lives.
02:22Majority, more than 90% of those who are working as sanitation workers in the Greater Chennai Corporation are from the Dalit community, either from the Arundhadiya or the Pariyar community.
02:34The Ulempur, Urimei, Eka took up their case and supported them to organize a protest.
02:43So more than 3,000 women sat outside the Ripon buildings, which is the office of the Greater Chennai Corporation, to protest against this move to privatize their employment with the Greater Chennai Corporation.
02:57They sat there in August 1st and they were also, they continued their strike till the 13th of August.
03:06And at that night, midnight, the police have come and evicted them and arrested them and placed them under their custody for the entire night.
03:17The police have been working for 20 years, picking up trash, picking up garbage, cleaning the streets, cleaning public lanterns and all their work they say they have even, almost every day, picked up human excreta, cleaned up human urine and all kinds of other human waste that have been thrown out by the public.
03:40That they have been doing for Greater Chennai Corporation.
03:45Many of them have sustained skin infections, chronic respiratory diseases.
03:52Women have had some very serious gynecological problems and all these issues because they are on daily wages, without any formal employment, without any formal labor welfare for themselves.
04:09They have run from pillar to post just to take care of their health expenditure and hospital expenses.
04:16As reported by most of the women who said that they used to take their own auto pay, their own auto pay to go and get medical attention for their skin infections and respiratory infections.
04:28They also said that in the course of their work, they would not even have space for drinking water, there was no space for them to relieve themselves and especially at the time of their periods, they did not even have a privacy or a place to change their paths or to even have water to wash themselves.
04:49And this has been, this has been, this has been their kind of life and their work for the last 15 to 20 years for almost all of them.
04:56This move of the government to privatize under the Ramki Corporation, not only would they be getting far less wages, but they also have been cheated out of the promises that they believe in the government that they would be made permanent if they continue to work for the Greater Chennai Corporation.
05:17This was, this was a feeling of utter disappointment of being cheated and of being let down by the very government of Tamil Nadu for which they had voted to come back into power.
05:29They are now holding the government of Tamil Nadu, especially Chief Minister Stalin and his ministers accountable for the promises they have made in their manifesto to regularize their work and to increase their wages and to also improve their living standards.
05:47They are absolutely disillusioned because they believe that the government of Tamil Nadu at the moment was one for social justice and was a government that was actually looking after their own welfare and taking care of their own needs.
06:02But even after 13 days of protest, the government has refused to budge. The Chennai Corporation has refused to budge. In fact, they keep putting out messages and keep putting out press information that what they are doing is for the best of the sanitation workers.
06:20But I think the sanitation workers know best. They want permanent jobs. They want that their salaries that they were receiving up to July 31st to be protected, not by reducing their wages, but to increase their salaries that they have already been having and to also improve their labour standards and their working conditions.
06:42For 20 years they have worked on daily wages. For 20 years they have worked on daily wages. For 20 years they have worked without having any paid leave. For 20 years they have worked without health benefits. For 20 years they have worked without any kind of labour benefits which they are entitled to being employed by the government of Tamil Nadu and by the greater Chennai Corporation.
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07:31So on the 13th of August, after arresting them and placing them in custody, they have
07:38kept them there till 14 midnight so that they will not disturb the Independence Day celebrations
07:45in the city of Chennai.
07:47I think this is a conspiracy and this is deeply disappointing of a government whom we have
07:54been looking to, looking, expecting, looking forward for social justice to be implemented
08:03in this state.
08:04This is a very sad and a very traumatic time for all of us who have been expecting that
08:14social justice will be done to the most vulnerable and discriminated sections of our community.
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