In a significant development, in the midst of an active campaign run by the Uttar Pradesh government against illegal Bangladeshi citizens and infiltrators, 160 employees of the Lucknow municipal corporation suddenly vanished, after they were asked to submit their identity documents.
They have not been reporting to work and have also switched off their phones, said sources. The agencies, who employ these workers under contract for the municipal corporation, are currently investigating the matter.
Meanwhile, it was discovered that most of the corporation workers, who submitted their documents had made their Aadhar cards in Assam raising suspicion about their authenticity, added the sources.
Drive against infiltrators
Amidst the ongoing SIR process in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government has launched a major campaign against infiltrators.
Lucknow mayor Sushma Kharwal too has opened a front against illegal Bangladeshi citizens. Whereas the police are conducting a special drive to expel Bangladeshis and infiltrators allegedly living illegally in Uttar Pradesh.
Missing from duty
Amid this drive, sources said, approximately 160 Lucknow municipal corporation employees have suddenly disappeared from duty after they were asked to submit their identity documents. These employees include sanitation workers, garbage vehicle drivers, and door-to-door garbage collectors. Their whereabouts are not known.
According to municipal corporation sources, as the campaign intensified and inspection teams arrived in various slums and neighbourhoods to verify citizenship certificates, these employees began taking leave en masse or absenting themselves from duty without notice.
Some employees cited illness even as their mobile phones were switched off. The number of 'missing' employees (sanitation workers) in the entire state is said to be above 500.
Meanwhile, the municipal corporation has warned that strict disciplinary action will be taken against all the employees who remain absent from duty without a valid reason.
Assam connection
Moreover, when the police and administration team reached Lucknow to check the identity cards of such people, another fact came to light. A large number of them had made their Aadhar cards in Assam.
The fact that a large number of Aadhaar cards were made in Assam has raised questions. The authorities believe that the workers who have disappeared have probably fled to Assam.
Lucknow mayor Sushma Kharwal told The Federal Desh that most of the missing employees are probably in Assam now. She said this raises suspicion that their Aadhaar cards and other documents may be "fraudulent".
Contract workers
Most of these workers, who have gone missing, do door-to-door garbage collection and cleaning work for the corporation. They are hired by agencies on a contract basis as sanitation workers. This is because the Lucknow municipal corporation has outsourced garbage collection in the city to agencies.
Municipal corporations across Uttar Pradesh are also doing the same.
The agencies involved employ sanitation workers and other individuals on contract and get the work done.
Agencies like the Lucknow Swachhta Abhiyan (LSA) and Lion Enviro are responsible for this work and the municipal corporation has no direct control over these contract workers.
This issue unravelled after the agencies demanded identity cards and other documents from their contract workers.
Campaign intensifies
Meanwhile, the campaign against illegal Bangladeshi citizens has intensified in every city in UP.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has written an open letter to the people of the state, urging them not to hire people without proper documents in their homes and businesses, and to verify their citizenship before hiring them.
Adityanath warned that if their citizenship identity cards confirm people's Bangladeshi identity, they will be kept in detention centers, away from the population and deported. After his letter, the momentum to crack down on illegal migrants has gone up in every city in UP.
