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Varanasi: On May 13, 29-year-old Sunny Kumar Rawat – a father of three children – was among around 100 contractual sanitation workers who, as a mark of protest, dumped garbage collected from different parts of the city on the road near the Malviya Chauraha in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi – the Lok Sabha constituency of prime minister Narendra Modi.

The protesting sanitation workers, who were hired through multiple private agencies that secured tenders floated by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC), were demanding a salary hike. As tenders are awarded periodically, the contractor changes depending on the active contract zone.

As the demonstrators dumped the garbage near the gate of the Banaras Hindu University, it blocked the road traffic for some time even as curious onlookers gathered to see the unique protest.

‘Didn’t have any other option but to protest’

Sunny, who has a graduate degree in sociology, works as a sanitation worker along with his wife Poonam in Varanasi’s Shivala ward.

Sunny lives in Sarnath, and each day travels a collective distance of 26-30 kilometres on his motorcycle to their workplace and back, along with his wife.

“I get only Rs 10,700 per month, which at times even decreases to Rs 9,000 or Rs 8,000 after deductions. Of this, around Rs 2,200-2,500 is spent on fuel every month. I didn’t have any other option but to protest,” Sunny told The Wire.

Sunny said that it is very difficult to make do with their present salary, which is not adequate to meet all monthly expenses. 

“My children go to school by school bus because both me and my wife are working. I spend around Rs 3,000 on their education and transport. It is very difficult to survive on this salary,“ Sunny said. At present, their 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter study at a private convent school. The couple also has a 2-year-old son who is yet to start schooling.

A room where eight members of the family of a sanitation worker reside. Photo: Mohammad Rameez Anas

Sunny said that sanitation workers were expecting a significant increase in their wages following a public announcement made by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath.

“CM Yogi ji said from the stage when he came to Varanasi that the salary of sanitation workers would be increased to Rs 16,000-18,000. We come under the unskilled category, so we thought we would get a salary in that range. But we didn’t get that amount. There were workers in the protest who had not even received their salaries for two months,” said........

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