While dismissing the Labour Rights Movement's petition, the court observed that the existing conservancy workers were not in a situation in which their services would be terminated.
Published Aug 20, 2025 | 12:30 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2025 | 12:30 PM
As many as 1,953 workers from Zones 5 and 6 — many of whom had been serving under the Greater Chennai Corporation for 10 to 15 years — began their protest after the Corporation announced that they would have to work under private concessionaires.
Synopsis: Dismissing the petition challenging the Greater Chennai Corporation resolution to outsource conservancy works, the high court directed the state government and the civic body to hold talks with the private firms and ensure the payment of the workers’ wages.
The Madras High Court on Wednesday, 20 August, refused to quash Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) resolutions to outsource conservancy works to private parties.
A Bench of Justice K Surender, however, directed the state government and the GCC to hold discussions with the private company and ensure that sanitation workers are paid their wages without delay.
While dismissing the Labour Rights Movement’s petition, the court observed that the existing conservancy workers were not in a situation in which their services would be terminated.
Close to 2,000 sanitation workers staged a sit-in for 13 days, protesting the GCC resolutions to hand over conservancy works in zones 5 and 6 to private concessionaires, Urbaser Sumeet and Ramky Enviro.
Following an earlier high court order, the Chennai police evicted the protesting workers in a midnight crackdown on the intervening night of 13 and 14 August.
As many as 1,953 workers from zones 5 (Royapuram) and 6 (Thiru Vi Ka Nagar) began their protest after the Corporation announced that they would have to work under private concessionaires.
The high court, on 13 August, ordered the eviction of the protesting workers following a petition by a Chennai resident, D Thenmozhi, who alleged that public peace was being disturbed. The court cited disruption of vehicular traffic and asked the workers to shift their protest from Ripon Building, the GCC headquarters, to an officially designated site.
The protesters, many of whom had worked for over a decade, said they were relieved of duty after the handover of waste management to private agencies on 1 August.
They demanded that the GCC cancel its outsourcing plan and reinstate their services.
Workers, who protested under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission banner, said they were previously earning around ₹23,000 per month. They feared that under the new private contractor system, salaries would fall to around ₹13,000–15,000, which they said would not cover basic expenses.
They also feared that the deductions might be made from their pay in the name of benefits, further reducing their take-home salary.
