Bengaluru: Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has warned of strict action against pourakarmikas who fail to attend duty regularly, saying officials have been instructed to initiate dismissal proceedings against workers who do not respond to repeated notices.

The minister’s warning came amid concerns over gaps in door-to-door garbage collection and the persistence of garbage black spots across Bengaluru. During inspections and discussions on civic services, he said attendance among sanitation workers needed to improve if the city was to maintain cleanliness.

Minister flags 30% absenteeism

According to the minister, around 30% of pourakarmikas deployed at various locations are not reporting for duty adequately. He questioned how the city could be kept clean when a significant section of sanitation workers remained absent.

Pourakarmikas play a key role in Bengaluru’s solid waste management system, particularly in collecting waste directly from households. The minister said their primary responsibility is door-to-door garbage collection and that failure to perform this duty can result in residents putting waste on roads, eventually creating garbage accumulation points.

“About 30 per cent of the people don’t come to work,” the minister said during his interaction with officials and workers. He questioned the logic of making workers permanent when some were allegedly not attending duty regularly.

The minister’s comments came in the context of demands for the regularisation of contract pourakarmikas. He said regular attendance and performance would be important considerations in deciding whether workers should be retained or made permanent.

Three notices before dismissal

Krishna Byre Gowda said pourakarmikas who do not regularly report for work would first be issued notices. Workers would receive three notices, and those who fail to respond would face action according to service rules, including possible dismissal.

The minister has directed officials to follow due procedure before taking such action. This means the warning is not an immediate dismissal of all workers who are absent, but a direction to take disciplinary action against those who repeatedly fail to attend duty and do not respond to notices.

The issue of attendance has assumed importance as Bengaluru continues to focus on improving basic civic services. The Greater Bengaluru Authority and city corporations have been carrying out early-morning inspections to assess garbage collection, road conditions and other civic facilities.

Surprise inspections focus on garbage collection

On Saturday morning, the minister conducted a surprise inspection of garbage disposal and road conditions in several areas under Bengaluru East City Corporation. The inspection covered Hennur, Agara Lake, Ramamurthy Nagar and Kasturi Nagar.

Officials were asked to provide updates on garbage collection, road repairs and pothole-filling works. The minister also checked whether door-to-door waste collection was being carried out properly and warned officials that garbage accumulation and lapses in civic services would not be ignored.

The inspections are part of a wider push by the Bengaluru civic administration to identify shortcomings by visiting neighbourhoods instead of relying only on official reports.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority has also highlighted the importance of attendance, uniforms, gloves and RFID-based scanning at pourakarmika mustering points during its field inspections. Officials have been directed to ensure complete and regular door-to-door collection and address gaps immediately.

Garbage collection remains a key civic concern

Bengaluru has been facing persistent challenges related to solid waste management, including garbage accumulation, waste segregation and inconsistent door-to-door collection in some areas.

The minister said that when sanitation workers fail to collect waste from households, residents may end up placing it on roads or other public spaces. Such locations can gradually turn into recurring black spots, creating problems for residents and increasing the workload on civic authorities.

The administration has also been urging residents to keep wet and dry waste segregated and place garbage in designated locations so that sanitation workers can collect it efficiently. The Greater Bengaluru Authority has said sanitation staff should collect segregated waste kept outside houses rather than expecting residents to personally hand it over.

Focus on accountability

Krishna Byre Gowda has increasingly stressed accountability among officials and civic workers during his recent inspections of Bengaluru’s public services.

Earlier inspections have also focused on garbage collection bottlenecks, road quality, streetlights and other basic infrastructure. The minister has said that civic administration needs to be driven by ground-level monitoring and accountability rather than relying only on office-based reviews.

The latest warning places attendance and work performance at the centre of the discussion surrounding the regularisation of pourakarmikas. While sanitation workers have sought job security and regularisation, the government has indicated that workers must also fulfil their responsibilities consistently.

Regularisation debate continues

Pourakarmikas form an important part of Bengaluru’s sanitation system, and their employment conditions have been a longstanding issue. The minister’s remarks indicate that the administration intends to link regularisation with accountability and attendance.

For the civic administration, ensuring that every designated worker reports for duty is particularly important because even a partial disruption can affect daily waste collection across neighbourhoods.

The government’s challenge will be to ensure that disciplinary measures are implemented fairly and according to established service procedures while also maintaining uninterrupted garbage collection for Bengaluru residents.

With surprise inspections continuing across different parts of the city, officials are expected to face greater scrutiny over waste collection and other basic civic services in the coming days.