The BJP's Delhi unit on Tuesday claimed the sanitation workers of the party-ruled civic bodies were excluded from the city government's list of beneficiaries of its scheme to provide Rs 1-crore ex-gratia to "corona warriors" in case of death due to COVID-19.
A senior Delhi government functionary rubbished the BJP'S claim saying all sanitation staff working in the fight against coronavirus epidemic are covered under the scheme.
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, who tweeted a purported Delhi government order listing beneficiaries of the scheme, said it was "unfortunate" that the sanitation workers of the municipal corporations who were serving at the frontline in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic were excluded from it.
A copy of the order posted on Twitter by Tiwari did mention among beneficiaries 'sanitation staff' but the BJP leaders claimed it relates to other departments of the government, not the three municipal corporations.
"Cheap politics of the BJP even amid corona crisis. Manoj Tiwari ji you are filled with hatred which is impossible to cure. Instead of criticising Arvind Kejriwal, if you had read the order, you would save yourself from being ridiculed. It's clearly mentioned that Rs 1 crore will also be given in case a sanitation staff dies," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh tweeted.
Tiwari, as also mayors and other leaders of BJP-ruled municipal corporations demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to include sanitation workers in the list of beneficiaries of the scheme.
Delhi Congress vice president and South Delhi Municipal Councilor Abhishek Dutt too raised the demand saying he had written a letter in this regard to the government.
"Nobody paid attention then and we were ridiculed even when I started a signature campaign for ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to a South Delhi Municipal corporation(SDMC) sanitation worker who died due to COVID-19. Now, the BJP has woken up to it," Dutt said.
South Delhi Mayor Sunita Kangra in a letter to Kejriwal claimed that SDMC staff were not covered under the compensation scheme.
"This exclusion has demotivated our staff and they are feeling discriminated. Now they are unwilling to perform COVID 19 duty under district administration," she said in the letter.
She requested the chief minister to extend the benefit of the scheme to SDMC staff.
A 57-year-old sanitation worker of the SDMC died last Saturday, after testing positive for coronavirus.
BJP's Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said sanitation workers of municipal corporations should also be included in the compensation scheme.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor in a letter to Lt Governor Anil Baijal has requested him to direct the Delhi government to include municipal staff, especially health and sanitation workers on duty as frontline "Corona warriors" in the list of beneficiaries of its ex-gratia scheme.
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