HC pulls up govt over 14-year delay in hiring sanitation workers

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the state govt’s failure to fill 23,820 sanitation worker posts across 309 urban local bodies for over 14 years. A single-judge bench of the court issued notices to the state govt Tuesday and sought a reply within three weeks.

The court also flagged the plight of thousands of candidates who completed the recruitment process but are still awaiting appointment letters.

Justice Ravi Chirania passed the order while hearing petitions filed by Inderraj Nidaniya and others. During the hearing, the bench questioned why appointments were made in select municipal bodies while similar recruitments remained pending elsewhere, terming it “unequal treatment” and directing the govt to provide a clear explanation.

Petitioners’ counsel Abhinav Sharma told the court that the recruitment drive, initiated in 2012, was cancelled through an administrative order on Aug 11, 2014, but the cancellation was later withdrawn. Appointments were subsequently made in municipalities such as Rajakhera, Kota, Rajsamand, Tonk and Churu, and the process also began in Alwar Municipal Corporation.

“If the recruitment was already revived, there was no justification for keeping appointments pending in major civic bodies, including Jaipur Municipal Corporation,” Sharma argued.

According to the petitioners, Jaipur alone has 4,981 vacant sanitation worker posts, followed by Jodhpur (2,076), Ajmer (1,115), Alwar (456), Bikaner (395) and Tonk (391), among others. They said the prolonged vacancies have worsened sanitation conditions and impacted public health.

“Also, the govt promised appointments after a strike by members of the Valmiki community in 2024, but instead attempted to start a fresh recruitment process in 2024-25, which was later withdrawn following protests,” Sharma added.

The court has sought a detailed reply from the Urban Development Department, Director of Local Bodies and municipal commissioners on the delay and a timeline for completing appointments.
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