Migrant waste collectors in Bengaluru lose jobs amid repeated travels for SIR; many to skip process

After travelling four times to West Bengal for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, many sanitation workers employed through private contractors and agencies linked to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) were removed from the garbage collection work, with contractors saying their repeated absence was affecting daily waste collection across apartment complexes. Many others, meanwhile, have decided not to go, fearing job and wages loss.

Several workers, The Hindu spoke to, said they would not travel again for verification and were willing to take the risk, as repeated absence from work could cost them their jobs. “We do not have paid leave, and staying away for several days, even if on a contractual basis, means being replaced to ensure garbage collection continues, with no assurance of being taken back once we return,” Mohammed Mehroon, a garbage collector in Varthur, said.

Possible implications

Many other workers, however, acknowledged the dilemma, as failing to appear for verification could have wider consequences. “If a person’s name is removed, it can affect voting rights and create difficulties in proving residence and identity. For us labourers, removal from the list has wider problems, including accessing welfare schemes, ration cards, and other government benefits, which are already a challenge to access,” said Sameer Rahman, a garbage collector in Panathur.

Anis Ur Rahman Sheik, a sanitation worker engaged in garbage collection at a premium apartment complex in Thubarahalli, Whitefield, for the past six years, said he travelled twice after receiving notices but could not afford to go again. “I neither have the money nor can I risk losing my job,” he said. He added that the notices did not clearly explain the reason for repeated verification, and pointed out that the names of all 12 members of his family appeared on the 2002 electoral rolls.

Osman Ali, employed at a different apartment complex in Varthur, said he travelled once and returned to work after nine days, only to receive another notice in the next four days, asking him to report again for verification. He said he has not been able to return to work since. “I received the notice on January 17 and was asked to report by January 19. It is impossible to travel thousands of kilometres in less than 48 hours,” he said.

Costly travel

He said he borrowed money and booked a flight to Kolkata on January 19, the verification date, spending ₹12,700, but the verification is not yet completed. “From that day, I have been waiting with four of my brothers who also received notices and could not return,” he said. He added that his co-workers told him that his work might not remain by the time he returned, as he had to be immediately replaced due to the scale of waste collection at the apartment complex.

Several organisations, including Swaraj India and the Karnataka Bengali Kalyan Samiti, have begun conducting awareness drives to explain the verification process and its implications to workers, so that they do not skip the exercise without understanding its possible consequences, said Kaleem Ullah, a national executive member of Swaraj India.