Sanitation and sewerage workers of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda started an indefinite strike today, demanding employee regularisation and the direct absorption of workers currently engaged on an outsourced basis.The protesting workers said they had been waiting for a concrete decision from the civic authorities despite repeated assurances in the recent past.​They demanded that the Municipal Corporation pass an official resolution in the upcoming House meeting to allow the process to move forward.​Ashok Kumar Bittu, patron of the Safai Karamchari Union, Municipal Corporation Bathinda, said past assurances turned out to be vague and offered no relief to the workforce. According to him, around 597 employees are affected by the issue.”We just want a resolution to be passed by the House meeting,” Bittu said, adding that workers had fulfilled all eligibility conditions for their long-pending demands.​The protesting employees claimed that a large number of workers satisfy the requirement of three years of continuous service.Ravi Kumar, president of the Sewer Workers Union, Bathinda, said a five-member committee was constituted following a July 27 decision to examine the matter. However, despite the passage of time, authorities have taken no meaningful action, he claimed.He said workers expected the committee to submit its recommendations and the Municipal Corporation to act, but employees are still left waiting.​”Our protest will continue until our demand is met,” Ravi Kumar said.​With workers remaining on strike, sanitation operations across the city are expected to suffer.A similar disruption occurred during a previous strike, leaving cleanliness services across Bathinda severely impacted.