Civic body to eliminate posts of bhistiwala, trolley man
Times of India | 29 October 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to eliminate several posts that have become obsolete, thereby marking an end to an era that dates back to 1726, when the Calcutta Corporation was established by a Royal Charter.
The post of ‘lightmen’ or civic workers engaged is physically lighting gas lamps on city streets had long become obsolete. But a few posts, like ‘bhistiwala’ or water carrier who supplied potable water in leather pouches and even sprinkled water in narrow lanes in winter, and ‘telephone operator’, who made it possible for officials to get in touch with the staff or vice-versa, were in operation till even a decade or two ago. While the last of the bhistiwalas in operation in central Kolkata have been replaced by tankers and packaged water, telephone operators who worked in manual exchanges have been made redundant by automated systems.
There are also posts like ‘scavengers’ — men engaged to carry night soil or excreta from homes without a sanitary latrine — whose phaseout will not evoke any nostalgia.
Some of the other vacancies that the civic authorities have decided not to fill up include brick-layer labour, ‘vessel craft driver’ (people engaged at the dock for supply of water to ships) and ‘trolly man’ (civic workers employed for carrying construction materials).
The proposal was discussed at the KMC House on Saturday. The MMiC overseeing the personnel department, Baiswanor Chatterjee, said the civic authority declared these posts obsolete and no fresh recruitment was necessary. “ We now need employees to serve citizens, keeping in view the emerging needs,” Chatterjee said.
A source said a survey was being conducted on the job profile of the present employees to decide on new recruitment.