AFTER 15 days, sanitation workers of Haryana Thursday withdrew their protest after the government agreed to abolish Theka Pratha (outsourcing system) in municipalities. After a meeting with a group of ministers, Haryana Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh president Naresh Shastri told The Indian Express that the workers would resume duties from Friday. “We will clean all cities and towns of Haryana within 72 hours,” said Shastri. Nearly 25,000 sanitation workers and 5,000 other municipal employees had gone on strike on May 9. The workers were also demanding regularisation of services of sewer-men and sanitation workers and implementation of ‘equal pay for equal work’ system. The employee union leaders Thursday said both their demands were accepted by the government. The government had constituted a panel of three ministers headed by Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain to resolve the matter as the stir had created major problem of sanitation in the urban areas. The ministers held a press conference to announce acceptance of the workers’ demands.
