Gowda made the remarks while carrying out inspections at Agara Lake on Saturday, September 5, when a group of pourakarmikas met him seeking regularisation of their jobs.
“How can we make those who don’t come to work permanent? How is the city supposed to be kept clean when people don’t turn up for work. Thirty percent of workers don’t turn up on a given day. People abuse us (when there is garbage),” he said.
When one of the workers tried to speak, Gowda told them “summaniri” (be quiet) in a tone they felt was rude. “When people show no interest in work, why should they be made permanent? Learn to work first, all you know is to talk,” the minister said.
When workers attempted to respond, Gowda said he was referring to attendance records and told them to stop lying.
“We’re supposed to give you your salary, and a bunch of other things, but nobody turns up for work. If the city is stinking, we’re the ones who get abused for giving you salaries. There should be some humanity. The desire to work should be there. The whole area is stinking. All you can think of is permanent status… Do you know what it means to work with sincerity?”
The exchange, captured on video, elicited both praise and severe criticism from people in Bengaluru and Karnataka as well as from across the world.
Nirmala, president of the BBMP Pourakarmika Sangha, affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), said Gowda’s statements were arrogant.
She said his remarks showed complete cluelessness about not only his own government’s policies but also the way the garbage collection system had been operated by contractors, resulting in the exploitation of workers and the city turning into a giant dustbin.
A year ago, the state government issued an order making sanitation workers’ jobs permanent. The move ended years of urban local bodies outsourcing sanitation work to contractors who often skimmed off workers’ salaries and exploited them. However, despite the order, applications submitted by many workers for permanent appointments have been held up due to bureaucratic delays.
Nirmala said this situation made the minister’s remarks even more objectionable.
“When a minister behaves like this, how do you think officials will behave with us? Government officials want all kinds of documents to approve our applications. There is a real fear that our applications will get held up even more,” Nirmala said.
In a video released online on September 6, Nirmala spoke about pourakarmikas as frontline workers who worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic without complaint. “Did you give us any special wages for that? Or extra leave?”
Nirmala also responded to Gowda’s accusations regarding worker absenteeism, garbage collection and alleged links between a corrupt nexus involving garbage contractors and government officials.
“He accuses us of absenteeism. But our wages are cut if we don’t show up for work. How will we pay rent and afford food if we don’t turn up for work? We’re not people with high salaries.”
She said pourakarmikas were responsible for sweeping the city’s streets and were already overworked and understaffed.
“These garbage contractors show they’ve hired dozens of workers on paper, but there’s practically no one on the ground. So then we’re asked to go to these areas and collect the trash. The health department, the engineers, they’re all on the take. At present, 20 people are doing work that you need 50 people for. They haven’t filled vacancies that arose after retirements and deaths of workers.”
Nirmala said pourakarmikas’ salaries had been secured through a long struggle but remained inadequate.
“We have worked for this salary for many years. And that’s what we have to use to buy everything—from the brooms and uniforms to paying rent. We’re given a house rent allowance of Rs 5,500. Where in Bengaluru can you rent a house for that much? On top of that, we need to use this salary even to pay bribes to make our jobs permanent. Why doesn’t he demand answers from officials for all this?”
The dispute has brought renewed attention to the concerns raised by pourakarmikas over job regularisation, attendance, staffing, wages and the delays affecting their permanent appointments.
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