Tension in MBB airport over retrenchment of 27 ‘Safai’ (cleaning) workers

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, September 1, 2025

The new system of outsourcing government services , followed for long by both Centre and state governments has started having its anticipated evil effects. This was evident today in the MBB airport of Agartala with the outsourced private party Nimbus company sacking altogether 27 cleaning workers without any notice or information. With the four-day ‘Durga Puja’ barely four weeks away this created a major commotion among the retrenched poor workers.

Sources from the airport area said that the sacked workers had gone to meet the topmost officer of the airport authority of India (AAI) but the official refused to meet them. After report of the commotion had spread the former MLA of Barjala constituency Dr Dilip Das reached the airport and spoke to the officer in charge of the airport on behalf of the AAI. After emerging from the talks former MLA Dilip Das told media persons that he had requested the AAI authority to keep the retrenched workers in service at least till the ‘Durga Puja’. “Actually the workers sacked now had earlier been under the NIH labour supply company but recently the contract was given to another company that is known as Nimbus Company whose authority felt that so many workers would not be needed and sacked them ;however I hope complying with my request the sacked workers would be kept in service till the ‘Durga Puja’ otherwise there will be economic problems for them” said Dr Dilip Das.

Apart from this, another labour engagement problem came to the fore this morning from IGM hospital where also the ‘Safai’ or cleaning workers have been targeted. Sources said that till now the ‘Sulabh’ company had been in charge of the cleaning workers but recently a new outsourced company ATSF has been given the work of labour supply. The new company has been trying to sack the cleaners working for more than twenty years in order to engage new hands. This sparked tension and there was also a clash between the old workers and the new appointees and it was intervention by police that prevented escalation of the matter . Sources said that the new company ASTSF have been told to retain the old workers .

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