As Delhi stares at a growing threat of dengue and malaria, AAP’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House Ankush Narang met the Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) employees who have been on strike for the past nine days and extended his full support to their demands. He said the BJP government has pushed 5,000 workers to strike just to save ₹60 crore a year — the very workers responsible for spraying medicines and cleaning water tanks to prevent seasonal diseases.
With their work halted, Delhi’s health crisis deepens, and since the formation of BJP’s so-called four-engine government, neither the employees nor the people of Delhi have found any relief. Present there were Zone Presidents Puneet Rai, Vikas Tang, Nirmala Kumari, and AAP karyakartas.
MCD House LoP Ankush Narang stated, “The strike by 5,200 MTS and Contract Field Workers (CFW) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which began on 29 September, has entered its ninth day. It was the Aam Aadmi Party’s MCD government that ensured these workers received MTS status from their previous DBC posts.”
He continued, “On 26 September, I had informed Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh in the House that 5,200 workers were going on strike on 29 September and urged him to speak with them. These employees check water tanks and monitor water stagnation — no one else in MCD can perform these tasks. If they go on strike, the people of Delhi will suffer. But the Mayor did not spare even ten minutes to meet them.”
Highlighting the legitimacy of the employees’ demands, Ankush Narang said that their three demands are absolutely justified. He listed:
1) Equal pay: MTS employees currently receive salaries in six different pay scales ranging from ₹14,000 to ₹27,000. Even after being upgraded from DBC to MTS, they are not getting uniform pay. This is a completely fair demand.
2) Medical leave: These employees have been working for 30 years, often amid malaria and dengue outbreaks. If contract workers are entitled to medical leave, why aren’t they?
3) Employment for the family in case of death: These workers operate in dangerous conditions, and in case of death, their families should be given a job.”
Referring to the financial aspect of their demands, Ankush Narang said, “I arranged a meeting between the union and the Medical Health Officer (MHO). The MHO said that fulfilling the demand for equal pay would cost ₹5 crore per month — ₹60 crore annually. When BJP leaders like CM Rekha Gupta and Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh claim that there is no shortage of funds, then what is the problem in spending ₹60 crore? The BJP spends far more than this on publicity and advertisements. The expenses of PM Modi’s foreign trips are much higher than this.”
Expressing concern over the looming public health crisis in Delhi, he asserted, “Reports show that this year, 431 cases of malaria, 840 cases of dengue (including 81 new cases last week), and 75 cases of chikungunya have been recorded — the highest in the past five years. For the last eight days, fogging, spraying, and tank inspections have been halted, yet the government is on holiday. BJP leaders are busy celebrating Dussehra, Durga Puja, and Valmiki Jayanti, while the employees are out on the streets. Since the BJP took charge of the MCD, neither the employees are happy nor the people of Delhi.”
