'Treat people better': Mohandas Pai calls for protective gear for Bengaluru sanitation workers
Mohandas Pai advocated for better protection of sanitation workers in Bengaluru, emphasizing the need for proper gear amidst public scrutiny of civic services.
Bengaluru industrialist and former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai has called on the city civic authorities to ensure that sanitation workers are provided with proper protective gear, including gloves, shoes, overalls, and face masks.
Pai made the appeal on X while responding to a video shared by the Bengaluru City Corporation showcasing intensive cleaning work in the Chikkapete Division, where staff were seen working without adequate protective equipment.
“Please equip your cleaning staff with proper shoes, gloves, overalls, face masks etc. Please treat people better. @GBAChiefComm avare, please have protocol for this,” Pai tweeted, highlighting the importance of worker safety in civic operations.
Read his post here:
Pai has long been a vocal critic of Bengaluru’s civic infrastructure. His call for better protection for sanitation workers comes amid heightened public scrutiny over city governance and civic services, including recent debates around road maintenance and waste management.
The appeal also intersects with an ongoing social media controversy in Bengaluru, where both Pai and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw have been labelled as “outsiders” due to their ethnic backgrounds, Pai as Konkani and Shaw as Gujarati.
The narrative, widely criticized online, has been described as a subtle “dog whistle” aimed at questioning their deep-rooted personal and professional ties to the city.
Responding to the backlash, Pai defended both himself and Mazumdar-Shaw, describing the narratives as “hate-filled bigoted” and underscoring their lifelong contribution to Bengaluru.
“We are both born here a long time ago. We have lived here all our lives and helped build our city. If these sick people call us outsiders, then who is a Bangalorean? What we have done for our city and state, people know well,” he wrote, tagging Shaw in his post.
(Also Read: Mohandas Pai, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw push back against ‘outsider’ narrative by Bengaluru residents)
