Sanitation workers’ unions have decided to go on a statewide strike from July 26 onwards if the state government fails to address their demands by then.
Event Context
Dr Bansal said the injured police officers left the facility before completing their medical investigations, while the protesting patients had injuries on the head and other parts of their bodies.
The hospitalised protesters alleged that police attacked them while they were unarmed.
Team Analysis
Chamkaur Singh Nainewala, district president of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, accused the ruling AAP of maintaining double standards by backing protests in Delhi while suppressing local demonstrations in Punjab.
Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon also condemned the police lathi-charge, while urging the Punjab government to immediately resolve sanitation workers’ legitimate demands.
As many as 12 protesters remain admitted at the Barnala civil hospital with various injuries, including fractures. Senior medical officer Dr Indu Bansal said the hospital received 22 patients following the violent clash, including 18 protesters and four police officers.
Match Outlook
DSP Satvir Singh defended the police action, stating that the protesters attacked the cops first. He said the crowd turned violent unexpectedly, throwing coconut shells and stones at officers stationed at the site, which forced them to use force.
Barnala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sarfaraz Alam could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis on Wednesday, in a letter to Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha, called for an impartial inquiry and directed the director general of police (DGP) to submit a detailed factual report within seven days. The commission said it will specifically examine the role of the Barnala SSP.
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Sanitation workers in various parts of Punjab have been on strike since July 8 to demand regular job contracts for outsourced staff, salary increases and restoration of the old pension scheme.
Representatives of various unions from across the state attended a meeting convened by the Punjab State Safai Karamchari Commission in Jalandhar on Thursday, a day after police used force on protesting sanitation workers in Barnala.
Commission’s government-appointed chairman Chandan Grewal slammed the state government for not adhering to contractual workers’ main demand of job regularisation.
“While successive state governments used our community as a vote bank, they completely turned a blind eye towards our genuine demands,” Grewal said.
“The state government has three days to take action against police officials who lath-charged sanitation workers and to fulfil the regularisation demand. From Monday onwards, all sanitation work, from collection of garbage to dumping and picking, will come to a halt as both regular and contractual employees will go on an indefinite strike,” Chandan said.
Unions take out march in Barnala, condemn police action
Meanwhile, leaders from BKU Ekta Ugrahan, labourer union, employee unions, along with sanitation workers, conducted a march in Barnala, condemning Wednesday’s police action.
Demanding legal action against Barnala deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Satvir Singh and other police officials involved, Kuldeep Sharma, adviser to the Safai Sewak Union Punjab, alleged that they struck female workers on the head with canes.
