Tirupati : In a significant development in the six day-old Sulabh workers strike, the TTD decided to cancel its contract with Sulabh agency under which 3,600 workers were engaged in various departments in TTD at Tirumala.
According to Chandragiri MLA, TUDA Chairman and TTD trust boardEx-officio member Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, the workers working under Sulabh will be absorbed in any one of the six firms and will get same salary and benefits like PF, ESI and Brahmotsava Bahumanam on par with other contract workers under various private agencies supplying manpower to the TTD. Reddy on Saturday held a meeting with the striking workers who were camping at Vinayaka Nagar staff quarters ground here after discussing the workers demands with TTD senior officials including the health officer concerned Sridevi.
Later speaking to the media on Saturday night, Bhaskar Reddy said that due the Sulabh workers strike since Monday, the TTD is facing difficulties in maintaining sanitation at Tirumala where more than lakh pilgrims arrive daily for darshan.
The contract with the Sulabh company will be cancelled and the work the agency is undertaking will be handed over to 6 new contractors, he said, informing that he and Tirupati city MLA Karunakar Reddy discussed the workers’ strike issue with the TTD management to end the strike.
Reddy said he also discussed the striking workers demands with EO Dharma Reddy who he said agreed to absorb workers with Sulabh in other contract agencies after the cancellation of the Sulabh contract. on humanitarian grounds and also keeping in view that they have been working for about 20 years in Tirumala. The demands will be placed in the trust board meeting for approval to provide them the salary equal to other contract workers, weekly off, PF, ESI and other facilities.
The workers thanked Reddy for his initiative to do justice to them. Meanwhile, leaders of the striking workers said the workers will discuss the assurances of Chevireddy and will take a decision onwithdrawing the strike.
