Delhi govt flaunts cleanliness drives while 1,500 school sanitation workers go unpaid for 5 months
New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government flaunts its cleanliness drives and school hygiene campaigns, nearly 1,500 sanitation workers deployed across around 250 schools have gone unpaid for the last five months, as reported The New Indian Express on Friday.
These workers, hired through the outsourcing agency Orion Security Solutions Pvt. Ltd., have reportedly not received a single month's salary since April 2025, despite being responsible for the daily cleaning and maintenance of schools under the Directorate of Education.
The issue was formally raised by senior lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who has written to the Secretary of Education demanding immediate action. In his letter, Agarwal called the situation “inhuman,” noting that the continued denial of wages has caused severe financial and social distress for the workers and their families, who are struggling to meet basic needs.
“For the last five months, these sanitation workers have not been paid their due salaries. It is most unfortunate that these employees, who already belong to a very low-income group and live hand-to-mouth, are being subjected to such inhuman treatment,” Agarwal wrote.
He also mentioned that the non-payment of salaries is not only illegal and unjustified but also a violation of the fundamental right to livelihood, protected under Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution of India, in addition to breaching several labour laws, added the report.
Agarwal has urged the education department to immediately disburse all pending payments and to establish a systemic mechanism to prevent such delays in the future.
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Four of family killed as car jumps divider on highway in Gujarat's Panchmahal
Godhra (Gujarat) (PTI): Four members of a family were killed, and one sustained grievous injuries after their speeding car jumped a divider on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway corridor in Gujarat's Panchmahal district on Monday, police said.
The car driver lost control of the wheels near Kalol. As a result, the four-wheeler jumped the divider and veered off to the other side of the highway, an official from Kalol police station said.
Soon after the accident, some locals rushed to the scene and also alerted the police. Efforts were made to pull out the people trapped in the car.
Four persons died on the spot, while one suffered injuries, the official said.
The deceased were members of a family from Vadodara and were returning from Rajasthan when the tragedy struck, the official said.
They have been identified as Sajid Iqbal Khinji (55), Ilyas Iqbal Khinji (50), Ishaq Iqbal Khinji (48) and Rehan Azgar Khinji (35).
