The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a scathing attack on the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), charging it for deliberately stalling the regularisation of 12,000 contractual employees despite the MCD House having cleared the proposal months ago. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in MCD, Ankush Narang, pointed out that while the AAP government had not only approved the regularisation in February-March but also allocated ₹800 crore for their salaries, the BJP is blocking the process to protect a corrupt nexus of middlemen, officials, and its own leaders.
The MCD LoP asserted that employees are being forced to pay bribes to these touts to secure permanent jobs. Demanding immediate action, Ankush Narang called for a transparent single-window system in MCD to end the exploitation of workers.
In a press conference held at the Civic Centre on Wednesday, MCD LoP, Ankush Narang, stated that the AAP government had already passed a proposal in the February-March House session to regularise these employees, but the BJP-led MCD has failed to implement the decision even after four months.
The MCD LoP pointed out that despite the House being the highest decision-making body in the MCD, and despite the proposal being duly passed, the BJP has refused to act. They might argue that there is no budget to pay salaries if these workers are regularised. But the AAP government had pre-emptively addressed this—by introducing cut motions in the budget and ensuring ₹800 crore (₹500 crore through one cut motion and ₹300 crore through another) was allocated for this purpose.
He questioned the BJP’s motives, saying, “Once the House passed the proposal and the budget was amended accordingly, what is stopping the BJP from regularising these employees? What kind of politics is the BJP playing with the lives of poor workers?”
Citing specific examples, Ankush Narang exposed the extent of the BJP’s neglect. “Many sanitation workers appointed in 1998 in various zones of MCD are still not permanent, even after 27 years of continuous service. When their files for regularisation are sent forward, they are told to produce their attendance. Are the employees expected to maintain their own attendance, or is it the employer’s responsibility? These are the same workers who clean the streets of Delhi daily,” he said.
He further revealed that 60 employees who recently retired were handed empty envelopes during their farewell. “They received no cheques, no retirement benefits, no access to the cashless medical scheme—absolutely nothing. Is this how the BJP treats those who serve the city for decades?” asked Ankush Narang.
Highlighting another instance of injustice, Ankush Narang said, “In 2021–22, 82 employees were regularised, although they were due for confirmation in 2004. These 82 now demand parity with 94 other employees who were regularised later but have been given seniority from 2004.”
He also flagged bureaucratic confusion and harassment: “25 employees from the Department of Environment Management Services (DEMS) department were posted to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital. Now the health department is sending them back to DEMS, and vice versa. These workers are left clueless about where they are supposed to report.”
Citing the Supreme Court’s guidelines, Ankush Narang said, “Any employee who has completed 240 days of attendance in a year must be regularised. But BJP’s MCD is even violating Supreme Court orders. What rules is the MCD following under BJP? For 15 years under BJP rule, MCD was pushed into darkness—and now they are doing it again.”
He made grave allegations of corruption within MCD, stating, “There is a well-oiled nexus between middlemen, BJP leaders, and senior officials. These touts collect lakhs of rupees from desperate employees, promising regularisation. Officials sitting in the MCD encourage this corruption by creating complex policies that make it impossible for workers to become permanent without bribery. BJP leaders—whether the Mayor or the Standing Committee Chairman—are complicit. They refuse to table these issues in the Standing Committee and have deliberately delayed the regularisation of 12,000 workers just to allow middlemen to thrive.”
Ankush Narang questioned the intent of BJP governance. “Employees hired in 1998 still await confirmation. The Education Department has prepared a seniority list for 1995–2002. BJP may have captured power, but it has no plan or vision for the future of these workers.”
Calling for urgent reforms, he demanded, “A Single Window System must be introduced so employees can apply for regularisation and access all documentation from one place. If the MCD record room, which is responsible for keeping attendance records, catches fire or loses data, the employee’s future should not be jeopardised. The onus is on MCD, not the worker.”
Ankush Narang challenged BJP directly: “Will the BJP regularise 12,000 workers or not? It has been over two months since Raja Iqbal Singh became Mayor, but he has not said a word about the workers, cleanliness, sanitation, or the garbage mountains. Is BJP in MCD only to enjoy power? Do they have any empathy for contractual employees, or is this just for show?”
Concluding the press conference, Ankush Narang made three key demands to the BJP-led MCD:
- Immediately regularise the 12,000 contractual and daily-wage employees.
- Ensure the ₹800 crore allocated for their salaries is utilised without delay.
- Establish a Single Window System for regularisation applications and documentation.
He also called for an immediate end to the entrenched corruption within MCD that BJP leaders and officials are enabling, demanding swift action to protect the rights and dignity of Delhi’s workers.
