Pune civic body cleaners dump their brooms for desk jobs

The clambering aspirations of a postpolls India seem reflected in the administrative goingson in the Pune Municipal Corporation The civic bodyrsquos conservancy staff have been declining to fulfil their chores because they want the comfort of a clerical jobDoing someone elsersquos job Contract labourers have been appointed by the PMC to fill in for its conservancy staff who have abandoned their duty PicMohan Patil Many class IV staffers who are supposed to do field work ndash sweeping roads cleaning and dusting civic offices unclogging drains etc mdash prefer to stay put at desks in various civic departments This forces the PMC to outsource their share of work to contractual laborers and footing an additional wages tab for chores its finicky employees are already being paid forThe practice has been going on for years and has depleted the PMCrsquos coffers of huge funds so far sources reveal Conservative estimates say the figure runs into tens of lakhs considering the Rs 50007000 monthly salary each contract labour gets This trend only weighs down a cashstrapped corporation struggling to finish public worksFilling in for the deviant class Since PMCrsquos class IV employees have deviated to clerical jobs contract labourers have been keeping the cityrsquos streets and civic offices clean PicMohan PatilThough the trend runs against regulations many civic employees pull strings and use political clout to ease into clerical jobsWhen this correspondent visited the office of cityrsquos acting health chief Dr S T Pardeshi yesterday one such class IV employee was seen requesting him to be delegated desk work though his actual job is the upkeep of a civic clinic in Somvar Peth areaAfter the staffer had left the office Pardeshi told midday ldquoThis personrsquos work is to open the clinic every day and look after its routine maintenance But as you could see he was requesting for clerical work He came with recommendation from the corporatorrdquo Pardeshi said Asked how many such conservancy staffers are doing clerical jobs in the health department Pardeshi said ldquoI directed all my officials not to appoint class IV employees on desk duty But still there are four such employees in one of my subdepartmentsrdquoThe situation isnrsquot restricted to the health department but pervades all of PMCrsquos wards where the designated work of the staffers is to maintain cleanliness in the whole of the ward area Other officials said a crunch in the clerical staff is also responsible for these changes in duties ldquoIn my office five or six class IV employees are looking after all the computer and typingrelated work I donrsquot have an option but to continue with them as I am short of staffrdquo a ward officer said on the condition of anonymity Round it goes In any case this further dispossesses a moneystarved civic body It has had to appoint wage labourers through private contractors to ensure the cleanliness of the city and its own offices But sources clued in with the process said therersquos profiteering involved from politicians A prominent civic unionrsquos leader told us on the condition of anonymity ldquoAccording to the data I had sought under the Right To Information Act nearly 1500 contractual workers are currently assigned in various corporation offices and establishments When PMC already has a work force of class IV employees what is the logic behind spending lakhs of rupees on salaries of this outsourced staffrdquo ldquoIn one PMC hospital two theatre attendants have changed their work profile and are currently doing clerical jobs The contractors who provide the workers have close links with councillors ldquoSo irsquos a circular nexus staffers come with recommendation letters from corporators who then ensure that their work is outsourced to a contractor for a profit The authority needs to check this malpracticerdquo the leader added Even though seeking change in their work profile has become a trend for class IV employees in the corporation PMC deputy commissioner general Mangesh Joshi said ldquoAccording to set rules and regulations no class IV employee can do clerical work According to my information numbers of such employees are very lowrdquo1500The number of contract labourers that the PMC has had to appoint they draw a monthly salary between Rs 5000 and Rs 7000