Chairman National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, Government of Indiai Manhar Valji Jala and Member Manju Diler today held wide ranging deliberations on issues pertainign to Safai Karamcharis with representatives of Punjab Safai Karmacharis, Punjab Member of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Cabinet Ministers besides high ranked officers of the state.Representatives of Safai Karamcharis Unions working in Punjab and state Cabinet Ministers and MLAs apprised the Central Commission about various facilities and benefits being provided to Karamcharis by the State Government. Speaking on the occasion, Technical Education Minister Charnajit Singh Channi requested the Commission to forward a proposal to the Centre to make education of children of Safai Karamcharis up to MA besides urging the Centre to provide 100% funds for Post Matric Scholarship Scheme as earlier. With new 60:40 arrangement, the interests of state SC students would be adversely affected, Channi further said. On the occasion, MLAs Budh Ram, Rupinder Kaur Ruby, Sushil Kumar Rinku, Gurpreet Singh GP, Lakhbir Singh Lakha, Pawan Kumar Tinu, Kulwant Singh Pandori and Balwinder Singh Laadi raised various demands of Safai Karamacharis and urged the Commission to launch more new schemes to further uplift their standard of living. Activists of various Safai Karamchari Unions and representatives who had come in large numbers raised their issues before the Commission.
Union activists Convenor State Safai Karamchari Union Subash Deshawar, president State Convenor State Safai Mazdoor Union Chandan Grewal, president Safai Mazdoor Nigam Patiala Sunil Kumar, Social worker Harjit Kaur Kurali brought into the notice of the Commission that recruitment of Safai Karamcharis was not being done regularly besides raising the issue of salaries, uniforms, shoes and safety kits. They also raised the issues of Health cards and pension for safari workers.Commission also held a review meeting with the state high ranked officers, in which Chief Secretary Punjab Karan Avtar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Dr. Roshan Sunkaria, Principal Secretary Local Government A. Venu Prasad, Director Local Government D S Mangat, Secretary Higher Education V K Meena, CEO PMIDC Ajoy Sharma, Director Rural Development and Panchayats Jaskaran Singh, Special Secretary Health Perneet Bhardwaj, Secretary School Education Krishan Kumar, DGSC Muhammad Tayyab, Additional Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation Amit Talwar, Director Social Justice Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal and ACA PUDA Lovejit Kalsi were present.During the meeting, a detailed review was conducted of various government initiatives undertaken for welfare of Safai Karamcharis. The issue pertaining to compensation paid to affected families in cases of deaths of supermen during cleaning of gutters was also discussed. The efforts to rehabilitate those involved removing garbage, as per the Supreme Court directions was also discussed. After the review, the Commission asked the authorities to make special efforts to further better the working conditions of safai karamcharis and ensure better future for their children. The Commission also underlined the need to enforce schemes related to safai karamcharis more effectively.