AAP regularises 600 sanitation staff, Kejriwal seeks SC mayor

New Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration on Wednesday regularised the services of 600 contractual sanitation workers working for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Highlighting the plight and aid needed for marginalised communities, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal also called for mayoral polls to be held immediately, highlighting that the seat was reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates and that they were overdue by six months.
Chief minister Atishi issued the regularisation certificates to sanitation workers at the MCD headquarters, but Kejriwal was unable to attend the event due to prior commitments, the AAP said.
“Beneficiaries were handed over their certificates today at the MCD Civic Center where Delhi CM Atishi represented Kejriwal, who was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Owing to his absence, Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to MCD mayor Shelly Oberoi and expressed regret for not attending the event, and extended his congratulations to the newly regularised sanitation workers and their families,” the AAP said in a communique.
In the communique, Arvind Kejriwal said: “On the occasion of Diwali, what greater news could their families receive than this? We have already regularised thousands of such contract workers… since our government took charge of MCD, sanitation workers now receive their salaries in the first week of every month. Earlier, these poor workers went months without pay and had to stage protests just to receive their wages.”
Kejriwal said that because of these efforts, sanitation workers, particularly from the Valmiki community, will “wholeheartedly” bless the AAP government.
Kejriwal said that in 2024, Delhi was to have an SC mayor. “I discovered after coming out of jail that they hatched a conspiracy and did not allow the mayoral election to take place. They deliberately deprived the SC community of their rightful position, which is completely unacceptable. I request you (Oberoi) to immediately conduct the mayoral polls and ensure that the SC community get their due right.”
Mayoral polls have been pending for the last six months due to Kejriwal’s incarceration, when he was CM, as the lieutenant governor (LG) sought “inputs from the CM” to appoint a presiding officer for the polls.
In the second year of the MCD’s five-year tenure, the mayor post is reserved for a member of the SC community but the incumbent mayor, Shelly Oberoi, has continued to hold the post in accordance with the LG’s order, issued “in larger public interest” in April.
The BJP said the proposal to regularise sanitation workers was moved by the BJP in 2021-22 when it was running the MCD.
Leader of Opposition in the municipal corporation, Raja Iqbal Singh, said: “The proposal to regularise the approximately 600 employees, which was approved today, had originally been sent to the Delhi government by the three BJP-run municipal corporations in 2021-22. However, at the time, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had returned the proposal.”
Singh said Kejriwal avoided the event “out of fear of facing criticism” for the financial collapse of the MCD. “I personally appealed to CM Atishi to allow the election of a Dalit mayor, form the necessary committees, and ensure the release of ward development funds for councillors,” Singh said in a statement.