Thousands of employees of 10 City Corporations including Mysuru City Corporation boycott work demanding implementation of 7th Pay Commission

Mysore/Mysuru: Public services and sanitation work came to a grinding halt in Mysuru city this morning as staff and Pourakarmikas of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) went on mass leave and joined a Statewide strike demanding fulfilment of long-pending demands.

The protest was in response to a call given by the Karnataka Rajya Mahanagara Palike Noukarara Sanghagala Parishat, urging a strike across all ten City Corporations in the State including BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), Mysuru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Davangere.

In Mysuru city, hundreds of MCC staff and Pourakarmikas from all nine Zonal Offices, who could not travel to Bengaluru to participate in the main protest at Freedom Park, staged a local demo in front of the MCC Main Office on Sayyaji Rao Road.

Key demands: The agitators raised slogans and pressed for immediate Government intervention, calling their demands ‘just and long overdue.’

The protesters are demanding the extension of all 7th Pay Commission benefits to Municipal employees on par with other State Govt. staff, implementation of the Karnataka Government Insurance Department (KGID), Group Insurance Scheme (GIS) and General Provident Fund (GPF) for Municipal employees.

They also want amendments to Cadre & Recruitment Rules, roll-out of the Jyothi Sanjeevini Health Scheme and urgent steps to address staff shortages, delayed promotions and other administrative lapses.

Work, sanitation hit

As both regular and contract MCC workers joined the strike, residents visiting MCC offices across the city were left stranded. Several citizens returned disappointed as counters remained unmanned.

The absence of Pourakarmikas and sanitation workers on the streets also led to a disruption in garbage clearance, potentially triggering hygiene concerns across the city.

Overall, civic operations and cleanliness drives were severely disrupted. It is reported that more than 600 MCC employees and Pourakarmikas from Mysuru have travelled to Bengaluru to participate in the central protest.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, thousands of staff and Pourakarmikas from all 10 City Corporations assembled at Freedom Park and held a massive demonstration. Protest leaders warned that if the Govt. fails to respond positively to their demands by this evening, the strike would continue indefinitely.