The Bombay High Court on Monday criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for failing to implement a state government policy providing ownership housing to sanitary workers for nearly 18 years, questioning why the civic body had not used its resources to secure homes for its own employees.
A division bench of Justice G S Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale highlighted the disparity between the depletion of municipal land for various projects and the continued lack of housing for sanitation staff.
“Large tracts of municipal lands have vanished… including those permitted to be encroached by slums and thereafter handed over to private developers to be developed as slum schemes, thereby conferring a bonanza of such municipal gifts to such encroachers and the other beneficiaries. On the other hand, the municipal corporation’s own sanitary workers are being deprived of housing for 18 years,” the court remarked.
The judges said sanitation workers belong to “the most exploited, marginalised and vulnerable workforces” and stressed that they should not face systemic neglect while seeking benefits guaranteed under government policy.
The bench was referring to the Maharashtra government’s 2008 policy under which the BMC was required to provide ownership housing to eligible sanitary workers. Despite the policy having been introduced nearly two decades ago, the court noted that the promised benefit had not been effectively implemented.
The judges questioned whether the civic administration, despite having substantial resources and control over land and other assets, could continue withholding the housing benefit from workers responsible for maintaining the city’s cleanliness.
The court specifically asked whether it would be “conscionable” for the BMC Commissioner or the municipal machinery to overlook the welfare of employees “merely because they belong to the lowest rung in the hierarchy of employees of the corporation”.
The observations underline the court’s concern over the treatment of sanitation workers, whose duties are considered essential to Mumbai’s functioning and public health.
The matter also brings renewed attention to the BMC’s use and allocation of public land, particularly amid concerns over land being diverted for redevelopment and other purposes.
The High Court’s remarks could add pressure on the civic body to revisit the long-pending implementation of the 2008 housing policy and identify practical ways of providing permanent ownership homes to eligible sanitary workers.
Source: Hindustan Times
