Strike by Mosquito Checkers in Delhi Leaves Residents at Risk

Domestic breeding checkers (DBCs) employed by the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) went on strike on Monday, claiming that the DC refused to heed their requests for equipment improvements, safety, and regularization.

The demonstration came after the city reported 56 dengue cases in a single week, bringing the month’s total to 121 cases, the highest number since 2018. There have been 11 cases of malaria discovered in the past week, according to the MCD report. There have been 243 dengue cases and 72 cases of malaria reported in the city this year, with 34 cases of malaria reported in July. Around 3,000 DBCs had been sent out by the MCD for inspections, monitoring mosquito breeding, and public awareness campaigns.

An office order regarding the protesting workers’ requests for regularisation was issued by the MCD on March 9 and November 9, 2022, but it hasn’t been put into effect.

The workers received their month-end salaries on July 22 after a three-month delay, according to Indraj Kaushik, a 26-year DBC employee, and the two-month salary is still unpaid as of this writing. He went on to say that the MCD has not told us when we will get that salary.

The DBC workers’ statement read, “Today is the first day of the strike… in which a meeting was held… that remained inconclusive… top officials remained adamant on their obstinate attitude.”

The head of the Anti-Malaria Ekta Employees Union, Devendra Sharma, said that the strike would continue until official paperwork was given.

He disclosed that the workforce had a meeting to discuss the issue with Mayor Shelly Oberoi and the additional commissioner.

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The Mayor asked us to stop our strike and told us that we would get what we wanted. But when we asked her to give us a written promise, she refused. We will keep going on strike until we get written proof, he said.

According to a senior MCD official, not all DBCs have joined the strike, and some are still attempting to solve the mosquito reproduction issue. Additional public health department representatives have been assigned to work on-site. We hope that the workers who are protesting will do their jobs and go back to work soon, he said.

Raja Iqbal Singh, who is the leader of the opposition in the MCD, says that the BJP is on the side of the employees. He also says that the MCD shouldn’t take their concerns lightly, especially when diseases spread by mosquitoes are on the rise.