Pune, 11th June 2025: A fresh storm has hit the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) after shocking revelations of large-scale corruption in the hiring and management of contract sweepers. Several contract workers allege that they were forced to pay bribes ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹1 lakh to secure jobs, often by taking loans from private moneylenders.
Despite this financial burden, salaries are not paid on time and complaints are routinely ignored, leading to severe exploitation of poor and often illiterate workers.
Out of 7,500 sanctioned posts for road sweeping in PMC, a staggering 3,456 are vacant. The civic body currently manages road cleaning with 4,929 workers, most of them hired on contract. The annual expenditure for this workforce is around ₹1.5 crore.
Regional offices of PMC operate sweeping units under the health ward structure, where each contract employee is assigned road segments to clean between 6 am and 2 pm. However, insiders claim these workers are at the mercy of "Mukadams" (supervisors) and health inspectors who demand money in exchange for marking attendance, allow ghost workers, and even take cuts from salaries under threats of termination.
In one incident under the Sinhagad Road Regional Office, a woman collecting money on behalf of an inspector clashed with him and filed a molestation complaint. A subsequent police probe found no wrongdoing by the inspector but revealed that the woman had taken ₹20,000–₹30,000 to "get people hired." Despite the findings, no systemic reforms have followed.
Sources from all 15 regional offices claim that sweeping work is often falsified tasks are left undone, yet salaries are drawn. In some cases, absentee workers receive partial wages while the rest is pocketed by supervisors. These practices, allegedly supported by senior health inspectors and assistant commissioners, are reportedly generating lakhs of rupees monthly.
Workers who speak out are either fired or go unpaid for months. “We are being crushed between loans and extortion. If we ask questions, we lose our jobs,” a contract worker told Sakal .
“It is wrong to take money through Mukadams and others to hire contract workers. This type of thing had not come to our notice. But we will look into this and take action. Also, the work of Mukadams who are in permanent service of the Municipal Corporation will be improved by transferring them.”
Prithviraj B. P., Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation
