Chennai conservancy workers’ protest: NULM-SHG model, 2,946 workers and ₹832 daily wage demand

Direct fact

In 2025, Chennai’s conservancy workers under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission–Self Help Group (NULM-SHG) model continued protests over permanency, with the core wage demand fixed at ₹832 per day.

Key specifics

• In 2017, the Greater Chennai Corporation had 15,776 workers; the number later rose to 21,436 workers.
• Of the 21,436 workers, 3,628 were permanent, 415 were Nominal Muster Roll workers, 2,946 were NULM-SHG workers, and 14,447 were employed through two private agencies.
• More than 2,900 NULM-SHG workers were engaged in Royapuram (V), Thiru.Vi.Ka Nagar (VI) and parts of Anna Nagar (VIII) zones.
• On 1 August 2025, over 500 workers protested outside Ripon Buildings, the GCC headquarters.
• The GCC Council, led by Mayor R. Priya, passed a resolution in April 2025 to outsource conservancy work from August 2025 in those zones.

Exam lens

TNPSC local governance and labour question type: identify the corporation, zones, worker categories and dates — 2017, April 2025, 1 August 2025, 21,436 workers, 2,946 NULM-SHG workers — and note why permanency and wage revision became a civic issue.