The Tamil Nadu government has issued an order for the payment of a food allowance of ₹50 every day to 24,264 conservancy workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).

The decision follows a survey in which 92% of conservancy workers expressed a preference for the allowance instead of the meals currently supplied to them, according to the GCC.

The order was issued to provide “food allowance of ₹50 per worker per day, calculated only for the days attended for work, to be added to the salary every month and paid in cash as an alternative to the meals currently provided, to all 24,264 sanitation workers working under the Greater Chennai Corporation’s self-help group sanitation workers and private cleaning agencies — Urbaser Sumeet and Chennai Enviro Solutions Private Limited.”

The annual expenditure for the allowance was estimated at ₹44.28 crore and will be met from GCC funds, according to the order issued by the GCC’s Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance), following directions from the GCC Commissioner G.S. Sameeran.

The Government Order issued on September 21 stated that when implementing the meals scheme through the contractor firm, “various complaints were received from sanitation workers, Project Management Consultants (PMC), and Corporation officials regarding the quality of food provided, failure to distribute food at the specified time, hygiene deficiencies prevailing in kitchens, substandard raw materials, and shortcomings in the quality and maintenance of utensils.”

The order further stated that a survey and opinion poll was conducted among sanitation workers of Zones 1 to 15 regarding whether the meals currently provided should continue.

“In that, approximately 92% of workers stated that instead of the meals provided to them, a food allowance should be given in cash, and that it would be very useful for them,” the order read.