Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) As a dengue scare grips Delhi ahead of the Commonwealth Games next month, about 3,200 sanitary inspectors whose job is to check mosquito breeding in homes called off their strike Thursday after they were assured that their demands for job regularisation would be looked into.
“The lt-governor’s office and Municipal Commissioner K.S. Mehra assured us that they would look into our demand. So, we called off our strike and resumed duties,” Ashok Chaudhary, who heads the domestic breeder checkers, said.

The domestic breeder checkers, as these inspectors are called, began their strike Sep 6.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi Wednesday warned the checkers their services would be terminated if they did not return to work Thursday.

The checkers, who go door-to-door to check mosquito breeding in homes, have been demanding their jobs be regularised on the civic rolls. In 2008, they observed a 47-day strike to press the same demand.

With cases of dengue and malaria rising in the capital and over 4,000 athletes and officials from 53 countries scheduled to arrive for the Oct 3-14 mega event, mosquito breeding has caused a major concern for the civic authorities. The city has already recorded 1,580 dengue cases and four deaths this year.