Rajasthan Minister’s Sit-in for Sanitation Workers Ends After Clash, Partial Appointment Letters

Alwar, Rajasthan – A protest by Rajasthan Minister of State for Forest Sanjay Sharma in support of sanitation workers outside the Municipal Corporation here on Wednesday took a political turn, with local Congress workers joining the demonstration and clashing with the Minister’s supporters. The five-hour-long standoff ended only after five appointment letters were handed over, with the remaining to be distributed at a formal event later this month.

The sanitation workers have been demanding appointment letters for candidates selected in a recruitment drive in 2012. Despite the Rajasthan High Court directing the Directorate of Local Bodies (DLB) in 2019 to constitute a committee and take a decision, the matter remained unresolved. According to reports, the municipal authorities had sought guidance from the DLB and were preparing to issue appointment letters to 69 candidates after months of correspondence. The sanitation workers’ union had agreed to this reduced number, against the original 329 selected in 2012, but the authorities allegedly backed out.

Mr. Sharma, who represents the Alwar Urban constituency in the State Assembly, joined the workers’ dharna at the Municipal Corporation and extended his support to their demand. He blamed the Alwar Collector and the Municipal Commissioner for the delay and said he would not leave the protest site until the appointment letters were issued.

“I spoke to the Collector, but she said she was not the competent authority to give appointments, as the Municipal Commissioner has been transferred,” Mr. Sharma told journalists.

Tension escalated when Congress workers, led by District Congress Committee president Prakash Gangawat, reached the protest site. BJP and Congress workers raised slogans and clashed inside the Municipal Commissioner’s chamber before police personnel intervened and pacified them.

The protest was called off after around five hours when Additional District Magistrate Yogesh Dagur reached the site with five appointment letters. Mr. Sharma handed over the letters to a representative of the sanitation workers and said appointment letters for the remaining eligible candidates would be distributed at an official event on August 16.

The Congress attacked the BJP government over the episode, alleging that the bureaucracy in the State had become so powerful that Ministers were not being heard and MLAs were being ignored. The party said it was the State government’s “biggest embarrassment” that one of its own Ministers had been forced to stage a dharna against the administration.

Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Mr. Sharma’s protest was an open admission that the administrative machinery was “thoroughly corrupt and out of control”. “The BJP government should be ashamed of itself… The Ministers have been reduced to mere rubber stamps. They have been rendered helpless before the system,” Mr. Gehlot said in a post on X.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra and Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully, who represents Alwar Rural in the Assembly, also questioned the functioning of the BJP government. “When even a Minister is fed up with the system, on what grounds should the public trust this government?” Mr. Jully asked.

The incident highlights the ongoing friction between elected representatives and the administrative machinery in Rajasthan, as well as the persistent grievances of sanitation workers over irregular appointments. The August 16 event is now expected to be a test of whether the remaining 64 candidates receive their appointment letters as promised.