Date:14/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/14/stories/2007011416840300.htm

New Delhi

Jal Board staff demand a better deal

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board employees want adequate compensation for working under stressful conditions that are further exacerbated during summer months when the city reels under a severe water crisis. From being exposed to toxic gases and chemicals to being at the receiving end of public anger during water shortages, they claim that the hazards of the job are too many and incentives too few and far between.

Pinning their hopes on the Sixth Pay Commission, they are seeking not just better pay scales but also better personnel management claiming there is little scope for growth within the organisation.

"The avenues for growth are limited. For instance, if a person joins the Jal Board as a chlorine operator he continues to work in the same post till he retires," claimed S. A. Naqvi, senior general secretary of the DJB Workers' Union.

On the employees' wish list are better working conditions, pay scales commensurate with other departments and additional aid for health.

"DJB is not a typical government set-up. The kind of hazards that our people face on the job are not faced elsewhere, therefore there is a need to not just improve their pay scales but also ensure that they are provided training, learning avenues, better housing and salaries and assured of time-bound promotions," said a senior DJB official.

He said the Board would bargain for more incentives for the workers who are engaged in high-risk tasks like sewer cleaning.

"There is a risk allowance, but we need more recognition for the workers who go down the sewers to work in high risk conditions. Exposure to gases like methane and other poisonous chemicals severely affects their health. There is a need for an additional monetary compensation for such workers," he said.

DJB Workers' Union also wants the Pay Commission to remove anomalies in the pay scales of the technical staff.