The Vellore Corporation is all set to privatise the garbage disposal system in the city.

Lack of sufficient sanitary workers had severely affected the garbage disposal in the city  triggering protests and agitations from the public, demanding that public areas be cleaned regularly. In response to these protests, the  Corporation had involved women from the self-help groups on contract basis, who are  involved in door-to-door collection of wastes and drainage cleaning works.

Meanwhile, the Corporation had approached the Directorate of Municipal Administration seeking permission to involve more workers on contract basis and got the nod to recruit 715 private sanitary workers, to address the garbage issues. Wages, Employee Provident Fund, service tax, LIC and other benefits to these workers worked up to around `59.76 lakh per month and `7.17 crore per year.

A resolution to pay wages to these workers from the general fund of the Corporation was passed at the recently held council meeting amidst objections from local councillors. However Mayor P Karthiyayini had passed the resolution after assuring that the contract would be cancelled, if the system was found to be ineffective.

A study by the Corporation revealed that it required 1,450 sanitary workers to the local body had only 559 workers. The local body had involved 46  self-help groups, each providing 10 members, on contract basis.While the number of permanent sanitary workers required was 891, the Directorate informed the Corporation to recruit 715 workers, inclusive of the current 460 workers from the self-helf group.

Corporation Commissioner P Janaki Raveendran said tenders would be floated and the contract would be entered for a year.  Bins and garbage carrying vehicles would be provided by the Corporation to new workers and they would be involved in the door-to-door collection of wastes, road cleaning and the drainage cleaning works.