India, Aug. 23 -- The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's decision to extend "same pay for same work" benefits to 4,400 contractual Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) employees working in the Public Health Department has brought cheer among workers, but the move also comes against the backdrop of a persistent shortage of sanitation personnel across the city. The MCD Public Health Department, in an office order, said the contractual MTS workers would receive minimum Level-1 pay of '18,000, along with variable dearness allowance as applicable under the Seventh Central Pay Commission, prospectively against relevant heads of account. The arrangement will be implemented after execution of fresh annual contracts. Also Read - Light rain likely in city Advertisement The decision prompted scores of employees to visit the MCD headquarters, where they garlanded Mayor Pravesh Wahi and offered sweets. The workers described the move, backed by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the Mayor, as a long-pending demand finally being addressed. However, the Corporation continues to grapple with another challenge an uneven distribution and shortage of sanitation workers. MCD Standing Committees member Satya Sharma said the Corporation was not opposed to regularising workers or questioning their demands, but stressed that workers must remain present at their assigned beats so that the workload does not fall disproportionately on colleagues. "There are areas where the requirement for sanitation workers is much higher, while some places have more workers than needed," Sharma said, attributing the overall shortage partly to retirements and deaths among workers and Delhi's steadily growing population. She said workers should be deployed across wards according to the population and sanitation needs of each locality. The twin developments better pay and rational deployment underline a larger requirement: ensuring that Delhi's sanitation workforce is both adequately compensated and adequately staffed.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.