Dengue breeding checking (DBC) workers protest in front of Civic Centre

Scores of dengue breeding checking (DBC) workers of civic bodies on Monday staged a protest in front of the Civic Centre here demanding regularisation. These workers are considered the backbone of the civic bodies in combating vector-borne diseases, as they go from household to household to check if there is any breeding of mosquito larvae or not.

"We have been working for decades as contractual employees, and authorities have many times claimed to make us regular employees, it has not happened. We are going to continue our stir if our demands are not met," a DBC worker, who is part of a union organizing the stir, said. Meanwhile, the SDMC in its panel meet on Monday decided that it will request the Delhi government to grant "financial approval" for appointing dengue breeding checkers (DBCs) as employees of the corporation.

"These DBCs were recruited on a contract basis during the Commonwealth Games in 2010 by the Delhi government. Now, CM (Arvind) Kejriwal says that dengue cases have come down in the last few years, that is because of the labour of these workers. "So, we have requested him to give financial approval so we can appoint them as employees," Leader of House in the SDMC, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, said.

There are 1,350 DBCs in SDMC, Sehrawat added.