In a strong show of solidarity with protesting Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) employees, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Ankush Narang on Tuesday met the workers sitting on strike and slammed the BJP government for threatening them instead of addressing their demands.
The MCD LoP said that even on Diwali, over 5,200 employees were forced to sit on the streets with their children while BJP’s CM Rekha Gupta and Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh remained silent on their legitimate issues. Instead of resolving the crisis, the Kamla Market SHO and ACP were sent to pressure the employees into ending their protest, with police even threatening legal action if they refused.
Senior AAP leader and MCD LoP Ankush Narang on Tuesday visited MTS employees on strike and made their demands the focus of the Assembly and the party’s public campaign. Invoking Babasaheb Ambedkar, Ankush Narang said: “He taught us to become educated, remain organised, and struggle — and the MTS employees have embodied these three principles.”
The MCD LoP said that last Tuesday AAP councillors had entered the House wearing black bands to make a point. “We made it clear that this is a black Diwali because the employees are not happy. The people of Delhi are suffering as a result of the mayor’s arrogance,” he said.
Describing the committee formed by the BJP government as mere window-dressing, Ankush Narang said: “The committee set up by the BJP government is nothing but a rattle. A person who genuinely wants to resolve the matter would find a solution immediately. The committee will only restate the same three demands. Employees want equal pay for equal work. They have served for 30 years — they should be granted the medical facilities provided to other contractual workers. Moreover, they are the most vulnerable to illnesses such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya. If an employee or a family member tragically dies, a grant should be given on compassionate grounds.”
Ankush Narang outlined the financial impact of meeting the employees’ demand for equal pay: “Providing equal pay will impose an additional burden of ₹5 crore per month and ₹60 crore per year on the MCD. The BJP’s four-engine government does not lack funds. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself says that employees come before the public — so why cannot ₹60 crore be provided? On one hand BJP people celebrate Diwali; on the other hand employees sit on the road. These employees are poor, they are labourers, they have no backing; hence BJP functionaries do not find time to meet them. Yet when big contractors or builders come, the door is opened to them personally.”
Ankush Narang recalled the mandate that brought the BJP to power locally: “The people of Delhi elected BJP seven MPs, 48 MLAs and MCD councillors. Because of this, the mayor and standing committee chairpersons in the MCD are BJP members. I personally introduced a private bill in the House containing the three demands. The mayor asked me to submit it again — I did — but he has not placed it on the table. What difficulty does the mayor have in stepping out of the civic centre to meet the employees? Will the BJP expel her for that? If employees are not satisfied, the public will remove them from power.”
The MCD LoP criticised repeated delays and hollow promises: “BJP people meet the employees and say they will decide in three hours. Forget three hours — it has been 23 days and there is still no decision. I warned on 26 September that employees would go on strike from 29 September. There were three days left — meet us and the matter would have been resolved in ten minutes, and I would have sat with them. Today so many employees and families sit on the road, but the mayor does not have even ten minutes.”
Reassuring striking workers, Ankush Narang declared: “The Aam Aadmi Party is raising the employees’ voice 100 percent in the House. The struggle of the employees will not be in vain. This is a fight to the finish and all their demands will be accepted. As strongly as the employees are raising their voices here, AAP councillors will raise their voices with equal strength in the House. The House will deliver full justice to the employees. No police, no mayor, no BJP leader can stop this movement. They will have to take me away first.”
