Minister joins sanitation workers' protest, Rajasthan CM resolves issue in hours

A Rajasthan minister joined a protest against his own government, and, in an unusual turn of events, helped resolve an issue that did not even fall under his portfolio. Rajasthan forest minister Sanjay Sharma sat on a dharna in support of sanitation workers in Alwar over the alleged delay in issuing their appointment letters.The sit-in protest, which took place on the premises of the Alwar Municipal Corporation, helped resolve the long-pending issue in just four hours. The demonstration was initially launched by sanitation workers who had been waiting for their appointment letters since being hired in the 2012 recruitment drive.Working at the Alwar Municipal Corporation for the past seven years, they had been running from pillar to post seeking their appointment letters. With municipal elections due in the state, they decided to boycott work.On learning about their protest, Sharma joined them, saying he would not leave the protest site until the workers were issued their appointment letters. The BJP minister also blamed the Alwar collector and the municipal commissioner for the delay. Following an intervention by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) later, officials issued appointment letters to five workers and announced the formation of a three-member committee to decide on the remaining cases, prompting Sharma to end his dharna.The forest minister said five people were given appointment letters as their files were already ready, while other eligible candidates will get the letters at an event involving Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on August 16. He also levelled serious allegations against the district collector, Artika Shukla, accusing her of acting arbitrarily and undermining government schemes.During the dharna, Sharma said the Rajasthan High Court last year ordered the issuance of appointment letters for sanitation workers recruited in the 2012 drive, following which the municipal corporation sought guidance from the director of the local self-government department on the matter.After months of communication, the authorities were about to issue appointment letters to 69 candidates, but it was put on hold, he claimed.The minister said that members of the Valmiki community informed him that the officials had denied them appointment letters."I spoke to the district collector, but her attitude was surprisingly negative. She appeared to be adamant and not in the mood to dispose of the matter. So, I came to the corporation office and sat on dharna with the workers," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI."I have also communicated the issue to the chief minister's office," he added. His protest gave the opposition Congress fresh ammunition to target the BJP government in Rajasthan.CONGRESS ATTACKS BJP GOVTRajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that corruption has become so rampant in Rajasthan that a minister of the BJP government was himself staging a protest for the sanitation workers' cause.He said the minister's protest against his own government and allegations against the district administration and municipal corporation raised serious questions over the functioning of CM Bhajanlal Sharma's government."If a minister sits on a dharna against scams in his own government, one can imagine the extent of corruption under the BJP rule," Dotasra alleged.He further claimed that Sharma's dharna against the district collector and municipal commissioner showed the sorry state of the administrative system under the BJP government.- Ends(Based on inputs from Himanshu Sharma, with additional inputs from PTI)Published On: Aug 13, 2026 08:13 IST