Municipal workers staged a demonstration at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Monday, demanding that the government roll back its plans to hand over the responsibility of running various municipal works to private agencies through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Led by A.P. Municipal Workers and Employees’ Union State president K. Nagabhushan and general secretary K. Umamaheswara Rao, the workers had initially planned to march to Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister P. Narayana’s residence but were stopped by officials at the protesting site. The union leaders, who had collected signatures of hundreds of workers opposing the alleged privatisation, submitted these to the department officials.

Demanding that the Government Orders 975 and 673 be withdrawn, the protesting workers said the model would jeopardise their livelihoods, besides imposing user chargers on the public.

The G.O. Rt. No.673, issued on May 27, talks about leveraging the benefits of the PPP model to overcome infrastructure funding gaps arising out of the increasing demands of the city. The union leaders berated the State government for not providing adequate funds to municipal corporations, and instead handing over municipal services to private agencies.

Raising questions about job security, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao asked if workers employed in these works would be allowed to continue or removed from their jobs, and if they would be given adequate wages. Public health is government responsibility, and therefore it is their responsibility to look into the welfare of those employed in keeping the environment clean, the leader said.

Mr. Umamaheswara Rao also criticised the State government for not addressing demands such as retirement benefits, gratuity payments, increasing the retirement age to 62 years, among others.

The leaders said there would be Statewide stirs if the Government Orders were not withdrawn immediately.