Nagpur: A whopping 81 sanitation workers were found absent during surprise inspections at attendance stands across the city early on Wednesday, exposing serious lapses in supervision of the civic body’s sanitation workforce. Five senior officials conducted the surprise checks. A sanitation inspector and a jamadar were also absent, while two sanitation inspectors reported late.Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has proposed disciplinary action against the inspector and jamadar, along with a fine of Rs5,000 each. The 81 absent workers will face a salary deduction of Rs1,000 each, apart from further action under service rules.The highest absenteeism was recorded at the Pagalkhana Chowk attendance stand in Mankapur under Mangalwari Zone’s Prabhag 10, where 29 of 89 workers were absent. Additional commissioner Ankit, who inspected the stand, also found jamadar Ritesh Usarbarshe absent.At the Trimurti Nagar Chowk attendance stand in Prabhag 36 of Laxminagar Zone, additional commissioner Muruganantham M found 16 of 31 sanitation workers absent.Additional commissioner Milind Meshram inspected the Trisharan Chowk attendance stand in Prabhag 33 of Dhantoli Zone, where two of 54 workers were absent. Sanitation inspector Anup Tambe was also found absent.Chief sanitation officer Dr Gajendra Mahalle inspected the attendance stands at Yunani Dispensary in Mominpura and Khapekar Mohalla, where sanitation inspectors Deepak Khare and Govind Shetty were found to have reported late.The absenteeism has raised questions over supervision of the NMC workforce responsible for keeping the city clean.“Such action will continue. Officials may visit attendance stands in any prabhag. Strict action will be taken wherever such lapses are found repeatedly,” said Rajesh Bhagat, deputy commissioner, solid waste management, NMC.The crackdown followed an online meeting held by municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar with senior officials on Tuesday evening amid growing complaints about absenteeism among sanitation workers. The officials were not told in advance which locations they would inspect. Each was given GPS coordinates of three attendance stands and instructed to reach them directly.The inspections are expected to reinforce the NMC’s warning that attendance at sanitation stands will be checked without prior notice and that repeated lapses will invite action.
