Bengaluru: Thousands of contract pourakarmikas of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday called off their strike and decided to return to work from Wednesday after the state government promised to regularise their jobs by July.

In the afternoon, following instructions from chief minister Siddaramaiah, municipal administration minister Eshwar Khandre, social welfare minister H Anjaneya and mayor G Padmavathi met the sanitation workers at Bannappa Park and assured them that their demands would be met.

"We have been told that a meeting will be convened before June 21 to decide on the modalities of abolishing the contract system. We have agreed to this. We will return to work from Wednesday morning," said Muthyalappa, head of the Bengaluru wing of the pourakarmikas' association, at Bannappa Park.

The strike by these workers, who clean the streets and collect garbage from houses, had affected garbage collection and disposal in the city. They have been protesting under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Nagarapalike, Nagarasabha, Purasabhegala Pourakarmikara Mahasangha.

Anjaneya told the pourakarmikas: "The chief minister has promised to fulfill your demands, including abolition of the contract system, immediately. Your jobs will be regularised and salaries will be credited directly to your accounts. There will be no worry about the contractor mafia from now."

The pourakarmikas agitation had come a shock to the BBMP, which is already struggling with waste disposal. The pourakarmikas' strike is not the only problem the civic body faces. Residents of Mittaganahalli and Kannur villages on the outskirts of city continue to block BBMP's garbage trucks from entering the quarries near their villages to dump rubbish.

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Minister's Baahubali act

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Pourakarmikas end stir after govt promises to abolish contract ... - Times of India