LMC MAY START PROCESS TO RECRUIT 5,000 SANITATION WORKERS

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) may soon start the process to recruit around 5,000 sanitation workers to give a boost to the Swachh Bharat campaign. A letter from the governor to the chief minister to seriously think about the appointment of sanitation workers in LMC has come in as booster for the officials who were advocating filling of vacant posts in the LMC, said officials. Even the LMC employees’ union was fighting for the appointment of sanitation workers in the corporation to counter the problem of poor sanitation in many areas of the city, said a higher official of LMC. Anand Varma, president, LMC Employees’ Union, said: “When population has reached more than 35 lakh in Lucknow’s municipal areas, the requirement of staff has also risen. The LMC cannot work with the staff which was sanctioned 50 years ago as boundaries of the city have exapanded.” According to officials, against the requirement of 11,000 sanitation workers in the city LMC only has 6,000. And 3,000 of them are through various placement agencies on contractual basis. LMC requires around 450 sanitation supervisors but has only 61 of them in the city. The corporation also requires more than 400 drivers for its transport vehicles but has only 40 of them on rolls. This staff shortage has been affecting LMC’s working a long period, said Anand Varma. Municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi said, “The appointment of sanitation workers would be done after the approval of state government. The file of appointment on the vacant posts is pending with the state government.”