Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Ananthi ordered notice to the municipality in the petition filed by S. Selvaraj who said Kumbakonam municipality had 45 wards and about 550 streets. Clearance and disposal of solid waste was handled by the staff appointed by the municipality. However, only a limited number was appointed and the remaining workforce was outsourced.

A farmer from Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district has moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court alleging irregularities in payment of wages to conservancy workers in Kumbakonam municipality.

A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Ananthi ordered notice to the municipality in the petition filed by S. Selvaraj who said Kumbakonam municipality had 45 wards and about 550 streets. Clearance and disposal of solid waste was handled by the staff appointed by the municipality. However, only a limited number was appointed and the remaining workforce was outsourced.

Of the 458 conservancy workers, only 146 were permanent employees. The rest were outsourced workers engaged by an agency. The daily wage of the outsourced staff was one-third of the regular workers. Moreover they were forced to work without taking leave. The agency had short paid the workers, which is tantamount to misappropriation of municipal funds. The money thus short paid must be given back to the workers, the petitioner said.