KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the secretary of local government department, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and Sindh Minimum Wages Board on a petition seeking minimum wages and safety measures for sanitation workers.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar directed respondents as well as a provincial law officer to file comments till Feb 22.

Social activist Naeem Sadiq along with five others petitioned the SHC stating that sanitation workers of the local government department and its councils comprising corporations, municipal committees and town committees as well as the SSWMB across the province were being denied of their fundamental right to a minimum wage and safe working conditions.

Respondents asked to file comments by Feb 22 on petition

Representing the petitioners, Advocate Sara Malkani submitted that sanitation workers were employed either directly or through private contractors throughout the province to clean streets, roads, sewerage lines and drains and their work was hazardous as it involved cleaning toxic and noxious substances and often led to contact with dangerous biological and chemical agents.

She argued that they were entitled to the minimum wage for unskilled workers, but the workers had been paid well below minimum wages and the petitioners had approached the respondents to comply with minimum wages law, but to no avail.

About the safety of sanitation workers, the counsel contended that the World Health Organisation and the World Bank had recommended governments to adopt laws and policies that guaranteed occupational health and safety of sanitation workers, including provision of personal protective equipment and use of technologies to eliminate the need for sanitation workers to enter pits or sewers.

The WHO and WB have also said that sanitation workers required personal protective equipment, including gloves, full-body suits, boots, glasses and gas detectors, she maintained.

However, she stated that they were treated as informal workers and had no basic health, retirement benefits and were fired at will while their employers were not providing them any protective gear and they were fully exposed to hazardous substances and did not receive any healthcare or compensation from their employers in case of a death or an injury.

The petitioners asked the court to declare that all sanitation workers working for the respondents were entitled to the currently applicable minimum wage in accordance with the Sindh Minimum Wages Act 2015 and respondents, in consultation with the main petitioner, develop standard operating procedures to ensure that health and safety risks were minimised.

They also sought directive for the respondents to avoid the inhumane manual entry of janitors in sewage gutters and replace the practice with use of suitable machines and equipment and all safety protocols were implemented to ensure safety to sanitary workers and provide them with all personal protective equipment.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2022