Chandigarh :
Employees of the Municipal Corporation (MC) Horticulture Department held a massive protest today outside the Municipal Corporation office in Sector 17, demanding the immediate resolution of long-pending issues. The demonstration was organised by the CMC Horticulture Workers Union, with participation from employees across various booths, as well as leaders from the Federation of UT Employees and Workers, Chandigarh, and the United Employees Front.
Union leaders, including President Harkesh Chand and General Secretary M.M. Subramaniam, criticised the MC authorities for neglecting legitimate employee demands despite repeated memorandums and meetings. The issues raised included early allotment of tenders, bonus and regularisation for outsourced and daily wage employees, provision of uniforms, oil, and soap, equal pay for equal work, revision of ESI limits, timely pension and gratuity disbursement, issuance of ID cards, and employment for dependents of deceased employees.
The officials were also accused of handing over green belts and parks to private societies and threatening temporary workers with layoffs, which intensified employee frustration.
Union leaders, including Gopal Dutt Joshi, Rajendra Katoch, Amrik Singh, and Vipin Sher Singh, warned that if their demands were not addressed immediately, they would launch a direct struggle against the department and hold engineering officials accountable. Former councilors Devendra Singh Babla and Dilip Sharma also supported the protest.
A union delegation met with Superintendent Engineer Krishnapal Singh, who assured that the pending demands would be resolved at the earliest.
The protest highlights growing unrest among MC Horticulture employees and underscores the need for prompt administrative action to address their grievances.
