Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and AICC President Mallikarjuna Kharge personally handed over appointment letters to 54 BBMP pourakarmikas on 1 May.
Published May 02, 2025 | 1:51 AM ⚊ Updated May 02, 2025 | 1:51 AM
Of the 39,000 pourakarmikas in Karnataka, 29,000 have already been regularised – including 12,692 workers on Thursday.
Synopsis: Over 12,000 pourakarmikas across Karnataka had their jobs regularised on 1 May, following years of protest and advocacy for permanent employment. The move brings long-overdue job security, dignity, and access to welfare benefits for sanitation workers across the state.
On International Workers’ Day, the prolonged struggle of over 12,000 pourakarmikas across Karnataka culminated in formal recognition of their essential work, as the state government announced the regularisation of their jobs.
At a special event in Bengaluru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjuna Kharge personally handed over appointment letters to 54 pourakarmikas of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), regularising work that many had performed on a contractual basis for years – in some cases, decades.
For several workers, the letters served as long-overdue validation. After years of sanitation work that often went unrecognised, the move brought not just stability, but also pride.
This follows the Chief Minister’s 7 April announcement that all pourakarmikas on contract across the state’s municipalities would be absorbed into permanent service from 1 May.
According to former Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman Narayana, of the 39,000 pourakarmikas in Karnataka, 29,000 have already been regularised – including 12,692 workers on Thursday.
Roughly 10,000 workers remain on contract. However, the Chief Minister assured that their jobs, along with those of 9,000 contract-based garbage truck drivers and cleaners, will be regularised in a phased manner.
“The contract civil servants have currently been made permanent, and in the coming days, around 9,000 waste disposal vehicle drivers, helpers and operators will also be made permanent. The government is committed to making permanent appointments for those involved in sanitation work.” the Chief Minister wrote in a post on X.
“I had noticed during my previous tenure as Chief Minister that civil servants were being exploited by contractors and were not being paid fair wages. Therefore, to help the exploited civil servants, I made a system to make the minimum wage as per the Minimum Wage Act mandatory.”
ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಆಧಾರದ ಪೌರಕಾರ್ಮಿಕರನ್ನು ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಖಾಯಂ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಮುಂದಿನ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಮಾರು 9,000 ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಷ್ಟಿರಬಹುದಾದ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ ವಿಲೇವಾರಿ ವಾಹನ ಚಾಲಕರು, ಸಹಾಯಕರು ಹಾಗೂ ಆಪರೇಟರ್ಸ್ ಗಳನ್ನೂ ಕೂಡ ಖಾಯಂ ಮಾಡಲಾಗುವುದು. ಶುಚಿತ್ವದ ಕಾಯಕದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿರುವವರನ್ನು ಖಾಯಂ ನೇಮಕಾತಿ ಮಾಡಲು ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಬದ್ಧವಾಗಿದೆ.
ಪೌರಕಾರ್ಮಿಕರನ್ನು… pic.twitter.com/67ePAXCTsH
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 1, 2025
He continued: “Earlier, the salary that was being received was Rs. 7,000. It was increased to Rs. 17,000 and a system was made to pay it directly to the bank account. In this way, civil servants were freed from the clutches of middlemen.”
For many pourakarmikas, the appointment letter symbolised more than job stability – it restored dignity to a form of labour long stigmatised.
Sandhya, who joined as a pourakarmika at 22 and has worked with BBMP for 24 years, said the moment was deeply fulfilling.
Sandhya
“I joined to work as a pourakarmika when I was 22 years old. I have got this appointment letter of job today and it means satisfaction and happiness for me,” she said.
“Imagine starting your day at 5 am for work, cleaning roads where we come across all sorts of dirt and mess on the streets. Our work goes on till 1 pm irrespective of rains, cold and heat, and this appointment letter has got a recognition to me that now I am a government employee. This letter has motivated us to do better job and act responsibly in keeping the roads clean.”
Murthy C, 47, received the appointment letter accompanied by his wife, Muniyamma. For him, the letter was akin to an award from the government for his service.
“I have been working for 18 years as a pourakarmika and we have been running from pillar to post along with union leaders and other pourakarmikas to make our job permanent for almost eight years now,” he said.
“I am more than happy for government making our job permanent, it means I have job security, it has brought dignity to my job and me which is looked down upon by people.”
The transition to permanent employment also brings with it the promise of better pay, access to welfare schemes, and retirement benefits – a crucial change for workers who have long functioned without basic entitlements.
The state has announced that wages will no longer be disbursed through contractors, and that BBMP will now pay workers directly.
Pillamma, 49, who has worked in Ward No. 29 for 18 years, wore a clean blue saree and apron – the BBMP-issued uniform – as she spoke of the support this brings in old age.
“This appointment letter will get me a little pension money which I can use for my expenses and living,” she said. “It also means I might get more salary in the coming months.”
Murthy noted that while an exact figure has not been specified, a salary increase has been promised.
“With this, we have been promised the increase of salary, but they have not specified the money,” he said. He currently earns ₹21,000, with ₹3,000 deducted for Provident Fund and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI).
PN Narayana, 47, who has worked for 25 years, said the formal recognition offered new opportunities for his family.
“There was no guarantee that the government would make our jobs permanent. But now that they have done it, I have job security, I am a government employee,” he said.
“Now, I can think to educate my children by better giving them opportunity to pursue higher education. If everything goes well and as per the promises made by government, we are likely to get ₹30,000 monthly salary, out of which we will get ₹27,000 in hand. This letter has once again given us hope that we too can live like any other job-going person. We will be also save to some money from our salary.”
The moment of celebration comes after decades of agitation, broken promises and policy rollbacks. Many workers recalled earlier governments issuing and then withdrawing regularisation orders.
Murthy C with his wife.
“Last time, the BJP government had made jobs permanent for half of the pourakarmikas in the city. Then later, we do not know what happened, they withdrew the notification of the order,” said Murthy.
“Again, there were state elections when neither Congress nor BJP took up this initiative.”
Gangamma, 51, from Ward 140 in Chamarajpet, said the move was overdue.
“The government should have made our jobs permanent long back. They have taken so long to make it permanent. We also protested a lot of times against the government and BBMP to make our jobs permanent. Sometimes, we also did not to work for two to three days as a mark of protest to show how city can remain unclean without us,” she said.
She credited Narayana – former Mysuru mayor and Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman – for his role in securing the change.
“I start my day as early as 4.30 am and work till 2 pm. I am happy to get this appointment letter but we worked hard to get this. The credit goes to Mysuru Narayanappa because he played a crucial role in coordinating with the government, took them into confidence that made our jobs permanent.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
