Nagpur Municipal Corporation has proposed fines, salary deductions and disciplinary action after surprise inspections found 81 sanitation workers absent from attendance stands across the city early on Wednesday. A sanitation inspector and a jamadar were also absent, while two inspectors were found to have reported late.
Five senior NMC officials conducted the inspections without being told the locations in advance. The checks followed an online meeting chaired by municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar on Tuesday evening amid complaints about absenteeism among sanitation workers.
The officials were given GPS coordinates of three attendance stands each and instructed to reach the locations directly. The exercise covered attendance points in several civic zones, including Mankapur, Laxminagar, Dhantoli and Mominpura.
The highest absenteeism was recorded at the Pagalkhana Chowk attendance stand in Mankapur, under Mangalwari Zone’s Prabhag 10. Additional commissioner Ankit found 29 of the 89 assigned sanitation workers absent at the location. Jamadar Ritesh Usarbarshe was also absent during the inspection.
At the Trimurti Nagar Chowk attendance stand in Prabhag 36 of Laxminagar Zone, additional commissioner Muruganantham M found 16 of 31 sanitation workers absent. Additional commissioner Milind Meshram inspected the Trisharan Chowk attendance stand in Prabhag 33 of Dhantoli Zone, where two of 54 workers were absent.
The inspections also found supervisory lapses. Sanitation inspector Anup Tambe was absent at the Trisharan Chowk stand. Chief sanitation officer Dr Gajendra Mahalle found that sanitation inspectors Deepak Khare and Govind Shetty had reported late at attendance stands near Yunani Dispensary in Mominpura and Khapekar Mohalla.
The NMC has proposed disciplinary action against the absent inspector and jamadar, including a fine of Rs5,000 each. The 81 workers identified as absent are expected to face a salary deduction of Rs1,000 each, in addition to further action under the applicable service rules.
The attendance checks directly concern the municipal workforce responsible for keeping public areas clean, making supervision a key operational issue for the city’s solid waste management system. The inspection findings have raised questions about whether attendance at designated stands is being monitored effectively during early-morning sanitation operations.
“Such action will continue. Officials may visit attendance stands in any prabhag. Strict action will be taken wherever such lapses are found repeatedly,” Rajesh Bhagat, deputy commissioner, solid waste management, NMC, said.
The civic body’s latest inspections are intended to reinforce its warning that attendance stands may be checked without prior notice. The NMC has indicated that repeated lapses will invite further action under its service and disciplinary procedures.