Kanchi admin fails to equip sanitary workers: Panel

Kancheepuram: Municipal commissioners and block development officers will not be spared and they will be booked as an accused if they fail to ensure the safety of sanitary workers, Jagadish Hiremani, member, National Commission for Safai Karmachari said on Friday. 

Coming down heavily against Kancheepuram district administration over the recent death of three sanitary workers due to asphyxiation, the member said that the visit by the commission to Kancheepuram and Sriperumbudur on Thursday and Friday exposed that the district had failed to equip the sanitary workers with safety gadgets making them vulnerable for grave accidents and communicable diseases.

The officials should be booked as an accused if there is any death of sanitary worker, he instructed district collector P. Ponniah during a high-level meeting at the collectorate attended by police and civic officials. Raking up the complaints submitted by the sanitary workers that they were denied gloves, soaps and masks, the top official wanted to know the reasons why the commission's guidelines and sanitary norms were violated in the district.

Interacting with officials of corporation, municipalities, town panchayats and panchayat unions and various departments he warned that the commission had powers to punish the errant through a court order and urged the collector to improve the sanitation standards in the temple town.

Sanitary workers in Kancheepuram also submitted a complaint to the commission that the health and civic officials in the local bodies do not supply the gloves, mask, soaps and other safety items but the officials insist the workers to sign the intent book related to the purchase of these items.