The staff union of Patna Municipal Corporation has demanded five additional leaves in lieu of work they carried out during Prakash Utsav to keep the city spick and span.

PMC staff union president Chandra Prakash Singh said: "The union praises the work of the PMC commissioner. However, at the same time, the event was successful because of the hard work of the staff, who made the event memorable. I have written a letter to the PMC commissioner in which the staff union has demanded five days' additional leave for the staff. The event would not have been successful had the PMC staff not put in their best effort."

The total number of employees is 4,000 of which 2,800 are daily wagers.

On why they should get the additional leaves as they were just performing their duties, Singh said: "It was not normal duty. We worked even on Sunday, from day to night, without compromising on the quality of work. The Patna senior superintendent of police has given a day's additional leave to police officers for duty during the festival. So why do not the PMC employees deserve the same?"

During Prakash Utsav, the city really looked spick and span. Even devotees who had come from other states had praised the efforts of the Bihar government.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, while presenting awards to officers, said Patna really looked neat and clean and efforts should be made to continue the same in coming days as well.

On why cannot the staff keep the city neat and clean on normal working days the way they did during Prakash Utsav, Singh replied: "The chief minister was monitoring the whole event. Additional manpower and better infrastructure were put in place to keep the city clean. If our staff get similar support on normal days, we will surely keep the city clean but unfortunately we don't."

The association has also demanded a hike of Rs 250 in wages for daily wagers of PMC. "The wages of PMC permanent staff are revised thrice a year but that of the daily wagers have not been revised in the past 2.5 years. Their contribution cannot be ignored and hence, the demand," Singh stressed.

Daily wagers get Rs 250.

On what if the commissioner does not agree to the demand made by the union, Singh said: "We will struggle for our demands and will not sit quiet. If the situation demands, we will strike. The union will wait for some time before deciding on the further course of action."

PMC commissioner Abhishek Singh denied having received any letter from the union.

"However, we have decided to pay a day's salary in bonus to our staff. We have also decided to organise a ceremony to award them."