After about 25 years of struggle, contractual workers employed with the TB department under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will finally receive a timely annual bonus for Diwali 2024. This January, the workers will receive a bonus of Rs 5,000 for Diwali 2023. There have been multiple instances over the last two decades where the demand for a bonus was raised. However, unions were told that it was not feasible to accommodate contractual workers for the bonus.
“Earlier, the workers were a part of Sena unions. They had also made numerous attempts to persuade BMC to extend bonuses to the workers. In 2019, about 281 workers joined our union, and we decided to push for this issue,” said Ramakant Bane, general secretary of The Municipal Union.
Even now, Mumbai has the highest burden of TB cases in the state, and the TB control department staff plays a key role in treating patients as well as disease surveillance. A senior treatment supervisor with the TB department since 2006 said that next year, there will be a demand for the bonus to be at par with BMC’s permanent employees. “It has been a long struggle for workers who have been in the department even before me. We were given assurances only last November and now this has become a reality,” he said.
The union and workers further stated that city TB officer Dr Varsha Puri played a key role in the development. “She moved our request ahead to the higher-ups and also held multiple meetings on the issue,” the supervisor said. Dr Puri was unavailable for comment.
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