BBMP says no pourakarmika jobs for those who have married twice

BENGLURU: After a long time, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is recruiting for vacant pourakarmika posts. There are 3,673 vacant posts of permanent workers. Of these, 430 posts have bee reserved for the Kalyana Karnataka region and the remaining 3,243 posts are open to applicants from parts of the state.

As part of the recruitment process, the civic body has introduced certain new regulations for applicants. If an applicant is married twice, he will be disqualified from the recruitment process.

Babu, president of the Pourakarmika Federation said, “What is wrong with a second marriage? If he or she lost their spouse at a young age, what will they do? It is a wrong decision taken by the Palike. If a person is aged above 40 year and gets married for a second time, then it may be objected to. As many as 18,000 people are working as pourakarmikas under BBMP and most of them are women. The last time, the government had promised to regularise their work”.

“If the BBMP weeds out people as per the new policy, what others will do? They will lose employment. What about people those who above 55 years of age? The government has put the IPD Salappa report, which emphasises on Pourakarmika welfare, on the backburner. Why is the report not being implementing?” he questioned.

Palike Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said, “Many conditions have also been laid down in the recruitment of civic workers. The applicant must have worked as a civic worker for at least 2 years on contract basis. The age of the candidate should be between 23 to 55 years. Also, it is mandatory for every candidate to submit physical fitness certificate from a hospital or authority concerned. Those who can speak Kannada can apply for the jobs. Also, male civic workers who apply should not have two wives, and female civic workers should not be married to those who have two wives. Also, those with criminal case background, or were terminated from service are not eligible to apply for the posts”.

“According to the government order, we have to take those who were working under the direct payment as pourakarmikas. By January 30, we will accept the applications from the candidates and will make all the arrangements by February. The new rule is already applicable for the government employment just like other government departments”.