MUMBAI, OCT 21: There is bewilderment in the eyes of Chhagan Vinjuda, a 35-year-old civic conservancy worker when asked his views on the ex-gratia issue. It is the first time, he says, in all his 10 years of service with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that he will be without that extra money for Diwali for his children's clothes, that little bit of jewellery for his wife. ``It is the first time that we have to go begging to the top brass for our money,'' he says.It is also the first time that workers of the civic body find themselves at the receiving end of a citizenry on-the-edge whose frayed nerves failed when it had to go without water for two continuous days two weeks back. There were demonstrations, rasta-rokos, abuses for the civic administration and its workers and a long pending petition was taken up for hearing by the Bombay High Court. The result was a stay on the distribution of ex-gratia, an amount decided by the corporation, albeit without the consent of the administration, i.e. the municipal commissioner.Heated discussions on the `corruption of the BMC workers', `their laziness and inefficiency', the money they make `under the table' - tarring the worker in the garbage dumps and the mukadam who is allowing illegal constructions, with the same brush - is still on. Only it gets a bit difficult explaining it to workers doing maintenance jobs in various departments, working in garages, workshops, taking care of the valves and water pumps and pipelines, cleaning garbage dumps, maintaining the gardens and parks, sweeping and washing hospitals and bedpans who by and large have no scope for putting their palms forward for greasing. And they form a major chunk of the 1.2 lakh striking workers - 80,000 to be precise.This is the thin cushion that they await the entire year to lessen the growing burden of debts that most of them are deep into. ``BMC hospitals have no medicines, we don't want our children to study in BMC schools, so where is the money coming from?'' asks P G Pawar a transport mechanic. ``Already it is difficult getting to send my daughter to school,'' says Vinjuda.``So many people are holding us at fault for going on strike. Why don't you visit the red-light area of Falkland road once with us? We are the people who keep it clean. Do people who raise voices against us realise our worth? And would they be keeping quiet if they were being denied ex-gratia? It is easy to talk about things you have not experienced'' says Vinod Baria, a worker who will now have to take loans to tide over the Diwali expenses. ``The Rs 2,500 being given to us as an advance by the BMC is so little,'' he trails off.It was in fact the lure of an accommodation that made Pravin Panchal, a commerce graduate opt for a conservancy workers' job in the BMC. Small mercies in big metropolises. That hasn't curbed his frustration, though. ``The bonus that we are asking for, is our right. All the top officers move around in expensive cars and use mobile phones. Can't they forgo a part of these expenses to reduce the deficit?'' he asks.``How is it that Mumbaikars are not outraged when they see poor people leaving public hospitals with tears in their eyes since there is no medicine in the hospital and they don't have money to buy them from private shops?'' asks a lawyer, criticising the city's growing self-centeredness.And while leaders like Sharad Rao are nonchalant, waiting for the high court verdict, it is the workers like Baria who will be queueing up to the moneylenders for providing the muted dhamaka this Diwali.
