Workers for the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) protested yesterday outside Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru in protest against Minister Krishna Byre Gowda’s recent comments about pourakarmikas, or civic sanitation workers. They asked the minister to apologise immediately and publicly.
The protest is also a backlash against Gowda’s comments about absenteeism among Bengaluru’s civic workers. The minister has recently questioned the demand for regularisation of workers in pourakarmikas and claimed that about 30% of them are not doing their duty regularly. He said that absent workers could be fired if they repeatedly do not show up and notices are issued.
The comments were attacked by the worker unions and activists who said absenteeism should not be used collectively to blame or to publicly humiliate sanitation workers. Pourakarmikas are essential to Bengaluru’s cleanliness and public health and should be treated with dignity and respect, AICCTU argues.
The latest protest outside Vidhana Soudha saw several protesters being arrested by police, said an interviewee. The protest was based on the demand for an apology and broader concerns about the treatment of city sanitation workers and the workplace conditions of civic sanitation workers.
Protesters also claimed police ripped up a copy of the Preamble to the Constitution that was being carried during the demonstration. The accusation adds another dimension to the protest but is an allegation made by the protesters and would require independent verification.
The dispute has opened new lines of dialogue in terms of the longstanding concerns of Bengaluru’s pourakarmikas. The workers themselves have voiced concerns about job security, regularisation, timely wages, safety equipment, social security and working conditions. AICCTU has called for administrative efficiency not to undermine workers’ dignity or rights.
Bengaluru: AICCTU workers protested outside Vidhana Soudha against recent remarks by Bengaluru Development Minister @krishnabgowda on pourakarmikas, demanding an immediate & unconditional apology.
— ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_) September 10, 2026
Several protesters were detained.
Protesters also alleged that police tore up a… pic.twitter.com/sLXlZnjKwG
The dispute started when Gowda criticized absenteeism among civic workers during inspections of Bengaluru’s sanitation and civic infrastructure. People who don’t attend work regularly should not be taken on as permanent workers, he said. He also said repeated absenteeism could result in disciplinary action and dismissal.
But unions have challenged the broader framing of the issue. The Karnataka State Municipal Workers’ Union has also criticized what it described as collective humiliation of workers and argued that action should be taken against individual cases of dereliction rather than making generalised remarks about the whole workforce.
The recent AICCTU protest thus encapsulates a larger conversation in Bengaluru about waste management and sanitation workers’ responsibility and labour relations and the government’s responses. And while authorities are looking for more accountability in waste collection and civic service, workers are demanding accountability that is accompanied by sufficient workforce, safe working conditions and respect for labour rights.
As there have been several protesters detained in the demonstrations, attention will be more likely to remain on the government’s response and how the Minister will respond to the demand for an apology.
At a time when Bengaluru is experiencing huge changes in its civic administration and waste management systems, the government has called for better garbage collection, route monitoring and more accountability for workers and contractors. And the clash over Gowda’s comments does illustrate how to balance those administrative objectives with the rights and dignity of the workers who perform the cleaning of the city.
For now, AICCTU is demanding an unconditional apology while the claims of a protest in the name of the Constitution’s Preamble remain under investigation.
