The East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s decision to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against striking sanitation workers seems to have had an effect as they started resuming their duties.

According to an official statement, sanitation supervisory staff of the East Corporation called off their strike on Tuesday after meeting Deputy Mayor of EDMC Bipin Bihari Singh and Additional Commissioner, Vivek Pandey at the civic body’s headquarters in Patparganj. The sanitation staff gave an assurance that garbage would be cleaned and lifted from all parts of East Delhi.

Bipin Bihari Singh assured the sanitation staff that their salaries for two months would be credited in their bank accounts within two to three days. He clarified that salaries of the previous two months had already been released.

The sanitation staff had demanded promotion of supervisory staff. Pandey said, "The process for promotion of supervisory staff has already been initiated and the promotion list is likely to be released by July 15."

On their demand for cashless medical facility cards, sanitation staff were assured that this proposal would be considered once the financial condition of the corporation improves.

"The sanitation staff were told by the EDMC to place their demands through one single registered union so that there is convenience in coordinating with them. The corporation assured the sanitation staff their other demands would be considered and a resolution would be reached soon," said the official statement.

The civic body on 26 June had stated that it has initiated the process to invoke ESMA against sanitation supervisory staff as efforts to negotiate with them had met a dead end. Supervisory staff are not covered under the labour laws and hence cannot call a strike, it was pointed out.  They were also preventing junior sanitation staff from coming to work, the civic body held.

Senior EDMC officials said the DMC Act has sufficient provisions to terminate the services of staff if they do not join their duties in the interest of citizens. Even FIRs can be lodged, they said.