Hisar (Haryana), Oct 27 (PTI) The Haryana Police had to use mild force to disperse a group of safai karamcharis here on Thursday when authorities tried to lift the garbage, which was opposed by the sanitation workers who have been on strike in support of their demands.

The protesting safai karamcharis reached Kaimri Road when the authorities tried to get the garbage in the city lifted in the presence of the police.

Also Read | DU Admission 2022: Over 25 Percent Candidates of First Merit List Freeze Their Seats; 60 Percent Opt for Higher Programmes, College.

The protesters surrounded the tractor trolley of the municipal corporation to thwart the move of lifting garbage.

As the striking workers confronted the police, the latter resorted to use of mild force to disperse them.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Holds Talks With UK PM Rishi Sunak, Agrees on Early Conclusion of Free Trade Agreement.

The sanitation workers later sat in the municipal corporation office in protest. No employee or officer was allowed inside the complex by them.

The sanitation workers have been on strike for the past few days in the state in support of their demands, including regularisation of the services of almost 15,000 of them who have been working for municipal bodies for the past several years.

As a result of the strike, heaps of garbage have piled up in several places across the state.

Rajesh, president, Municipal Corporation Safai Karamcharis Association claimed few sanitation workers were injured in the police "lathicharge".

Haryana State President of Municipal Employees Union, Subhash Lamba said the government is not ready to accept the just demands of the striking employees. He said the strike cannot be called off without resolving the demands.

He said the government had not recruited permanent sanitation workers for more than two decades and now, they were planning to bring the contractual Safai Karamcharis under the purview of the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, a move being opposed because the “employees won't be regularised once they come under this body”.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda condemned the "lathi charge" by the police and supported the strike of the sanitation workers.

He said all the demands of the employees are completely justified and the government should accept them without any delay.

"For the past several days, sanitation workers have been agitating for their demands, but the government is not paying any attention to it," the Congress leader said.

“These employees are not begging, but are demanding their rights from the government. The government should accept their demands without delay and end the strike so that the cleanliness system of the state can be improved,” he said.

Hooda reminded the BJP-led government that these employees have fulfilled their responsibility by risking their lives during the Covid period.

“Many employees lost their lives while fulfilling their responsibility. Therefore, their contribution in the service of the state and humanity cannot be forgotten. It is not justified to deprive such sanitation soldiers of their rights,” he said in a statement.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)