False complaint row: Sanitation workers resume work after Patiala MC suspends clerk
The municipal corporation (MC) of Patiala suspended a clerk on Wednesday for allegedly lodging a false complaint against two sanitary inspectors under the SC/ST Act. The MC have also initiated the process of issuing a chargesheet against the clerk.
“The clerk falsely accused two sanitary inspectors of passing caste-related remarks on him after they refused to grant leave of his acquaintance. The MC action comes after sanitation workers boycotted work,” an official said.
The sanitation Workers have been on strike since Monday. They were demanding suspension on the clerk, identified as Jatinder Prince, of Patiala, for allegedly lodging false complaint against the two sanitary inspectors.
Two days after this, the sanitation workers resumed work on Wednesday after the civic body agreed on their demands.
Due to the ongoing strike, the residents faced garbage woes. Piles of garbage were seen dumped at many parts of the city.
According to the protesters, Prince had lodged a complaint against chief sanitary inspector Bhagwant Singh and sanitary inspector Jagtar Singh under the SC/ST Act at Civil Lines police station.
Chief sanitary inspector Bhagwant Singh said that on December 28, Prince went to them and asked them to approve leave of a sanitation worker.
“We refused as some other workers were already on leave. Following this, Prince argued with us and later lodged the false complaint,” he said.
“On Wednesday, the MC agreed to our demands and suspended him. So, we have ended our strike and resumed work,” he added.
MC commissioner Poonamdeep Kaur said, “The preliminary inquiry against clerk Jatinder Prince has been completed and we have suspended him. We are in the process of issuing a chargesheet against him.”