The Haryana government on Monday amended the service rules to allow sanitation workers and sewermen to be promoted to the post of clerk in municipal corporations.The move was one of the demands of the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, which had led a 37-day strike by sanitation workers across Haryana. The government had accepted the demand on September 11.The amendments to the Haryana Municipal Corporation Employees (Recruitment and Conditions) Service Rules, 1998, were notified on September 14 by Commissioner and Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Ashok Meena. The department also issued draft rules to amend the Haryana Municipal Services (Integration, Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2010, for recruitment in municipal councils and municipal committees, inviting objections within 10 days.Under the amended rules, for the 20 per cent of clerk posts in municipal corporations filled through promotion, safai karamcharis and sewermen have now been included in the list of eligible employees. Earlier, the posts were open to peons, watchmen, bill distributors, library attendants, complaint attendants, khalasis, fero khalasis and ward coolies.Safai karamcharis and sewermen will be eligible for promotion after five years of regular service. They must have passed Class 12 and studied Hindi or Sanskrit at the matriculation level, or Hindi at the higher-education level.The earlier requirement of passing departmental tests in Hindi and English at the Class 12 level, conducted by the Commissioner for promotion, has also been removed. For direct recruitment to the remaining 80 per cent of clerk posts, the requirement of computer knowledge has been waived.Interestingly, the basic qualification for appointment as a safai karamchari or sewerman in Haryana is merely the ability to read and write.Under the draft rules for municipal councils and municipal committees, the qualification for peons, head malis, mali-cum-chowkidars and chowkidars for filling 20 per cent of clerk posts through promotion was earlier matriculation. This has now been raised to Class 12, while Safai Mazdoors have also been made eligible for promotion after five years of regular service.Here too, candidates are required to have studied Hindi or Sanskrit as one of the subjects at the matriculation level, or Hindi as a subject in higher education.