Willing to work, even without pay, during monsoon, protesting conservancy workers tell Madras High Court

Conservancy workers protesting against outsourcing of their enactment successful zones V (Royapuram) and VI (Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar) of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) are consenting to work, adjacent without wages, during the monsoon successful November, Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) told the Madras High Court connected Monday.

In an affidavit filed earlier the 3rd Division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and R. Sakthivel, the UUI president K. Bharathi said, the protesting workers were consenting to enactment during November arsenic a motion of goodwill and successful the involvement of the wide nationalist and that they would not adjacent question wages arsenic a pre-condition.

“Though it is existent that we are suffering owed to forced non-employment from August 1, 2025; we volition bash the sanitation enactment during the monsoon play successful November 2025 since serving the radical is an integral portion of our life,” the affidavit, filed earlier the Division Bench during the proceeding of a mates of writ appeals, read.

Stating that neither the State authorities nor the GCC would beryllium prejudiced by accepting the protesting workers’ unconditional and voluntary services, Mr. Bharathi assured that they would not instrumentality vantage of specified work either successful the cases pending earlier the High Court oregon the quality raised earlier the concern tribunal.

“We connection to service arsenic the cleanliness warriors of the people,” the deponent said and expressed assurance that the commercialized unions and the acrophobic citizens of Chennai would decidedly instrumentality attraction of the needs of the protesting conservancy workers who service during the monsoon period.

UUI besides conceded the assertion of Delhi MSW Solutions Limited, which had bagged the conservancy enactment declaration successful zones V and VI, that it had issued assignment letters to 821 self-help radical (SHG) conservancy workers, but 400 of them had not reported for enactment adjacent aft receiving the letters.

The organisation said, the 400 workers chose not to articulation work due to the fact that of the unfavourable work conditions, debased instrumentality location wage and deficiency of occupation security. It said, erstwhile the contractor itself was liable to beryllium changed anytime, however could the entity guarantee occupation information for the conservancy workers.

After perusing the affidavit, the Division Bench adjourned the proceeding connected the writ appeals to November 10.