MARGAO
In a major development in the row over the regularisation of services of Margao Municipal workers, 14 sanitation workers on Thursday threatened self-immolation by dousing themselves with petrol if their issues of pay fixation and clearance of arrears are not settled within two days.
Armed with petrol bottles, the workers issued the threat in front of the Margao Municipal building on Thursday evening as they rued that even after two High Court orders, including a contempt petition order, the council is deliberately harassing them.
Margao Municipal Chief Officer Madhu Narvekar later told the media that he would clear all issues as per the High Court directions by Tuesday-Wednesday, including rectification of the date of the order.
The 14 MMC daily wage workers were regularised and issued fixed orders in March 2010. However, due to political differences this order was held in abeyance by the DMA in June 2020. After pleading before all possible political leaders in vain, 12 of them preferred to move to the High Court for justice.
After a four-and-half-year-old legal battle, the High Court quashed the order of abeyance and upheld the regularisation. However, even after a five months lapse, the workers maintained that the Council failed to implement the High Court order and to rub salt over the wounds of these poor workers, the Council directed the workers to apply for the Temporary Status scheme.
“Left with no other option, we once again moved the High court with a contempt petition. The Chief Officer, in response, filed an undertaking on January 22, 2026, before the High Court that the provisions of the August 4, 2025 order would be implemented within 4 weeks,” MMC worker Domnic Furtado said.
The beleaguered workers were once again played upon, when the Chief Officer Madhu Narvekar issued a fresh order dated February 13, 2026 stating that the services of the workers were regularised with effect from February 13, 2026, which was much contradictory to the High Court order, as the workers stand regularised with effect from March 2020.
The workers immediately submitted their objection to the fresh order and claimed that they stand regularised since March 2020 with all arrears payable to them.
With the Chief Officer’s own deadline of 4 weeks having expired, the frustrated workers gathered in front of the Margao Municipal Council building with petrol bottles and warned the Council that they would self-immolate themselves if justice was not done to them within 2 days.
