Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will direct private sanitation agencies to provide formal employment or appointment letters to all safai karmacharis working for them, aiming to safeguard workers’ rights and dignity.The decision followed a review of sanitation workers’ welfare measures by National Commission for Safai Karamcharis vice-chairman Kaishab Bihari during a meeting with BMC officials on Friday.BMC additional commissioner Kailash Chandra Dash said sanitation workers employed through private agencies currently lacked formal employment letters, leaving them without documentary proof of their jobs and limiting access to employment-related benefits.“We have asked the private sanitary agencies which have signed agreements with us for sanitation activities to provide employment letters to each worker as part of dignifying their role and ensuring recognition of their service,” Dash said.The decision comes as BMC prepares to fully privatise sanitation services across Bhubaneswar. It has submitted a proposal to state govt to place the remaining three wards, now serviced by BMC’s sanitation workforce, under private management. If approved, specialised private agencies will handle all 67 municipal wards.Private agencies already service 64 wards, while regular municipal sanitation workers manage three. Earlier, BMC directly handled sanitation in 10 wards before transferring seven to private operators. Dash said privatisation of those wards had produced positive results, with agencies taking a more professional approach and effectively managing operations and supervising workers.Officials said full privatisation would not displace existing municipal sanitation workers, who would instead be assigned other duties in ward offices. Seven private agencies currently undertake manual and mechanical sweeping, door-to-door waste collection and waste segregation. They employ nearly 7,000 sanitation workers, with around 1,000 deployed by each agency.