THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was the first Onam celebration at her workplace for Sujatha, a sanitation worker of the city corporation. The 43-year-old, hailing from a family of fishers, was among the brave Covid warriors who had cleaned the city streets without fail even when the pandemic was at its peak.
After two Covid-marred Onam seasons, Sujatha and her colleagues had high hopes for this year’s celebration. The 26 cleaning staffers under the Chalai circle shelled Rs 200 each for a sumptuous feast and some merrymaking on Saturday.
Two of them laid pookkalam on the aerobic bin premises while those in the morning shift started work at 5am because of the celebration though the normal time was from 7am. Around 8.30am, they were told to move to the bypass road where slaughter waste dumped in the drains had to be removed. The workers were obviously upset but obeyed the order.
“The work ended around 12.30pm, one-and-a-half hours past the shift ended. We were hurt to the core. That was not an urgent work and could have been assigned with people in the afternoon shift or for the next day. You just cannot enjoy a feast after dealing with decomposed slaughter waste. Try that once. You will understand our feelings then,” Sujatha says.
Most of the workers felt it as an insult and left for their homes without attending the celebration. In a spurt of anger, the remaining staffers, about 11 of them, decided to trash the food that they ordered for the feast. They took a video of the protest to send it to their higher-ups. But things did not turn out as they expected. The video went viral and the bizarre protest invited wide criticism. The corporation took action against them -- seven permanent workers were suspended and four temporary staffers sacked.
“A knee-jerk reaction turned our world upside down. Nobody, the higher officers or the media, listened to our version. We are saddened. Rain or shine, flood or pandemic, we had been on the streets unfailingly. A thankless world indeed,” says a sacked worker who is yet to recover from the shock. Her husband is an alcoholic and the four-member family survived on her income for the past five years. “People accused us of not knowing the value of food. Please don’t judge us by that single incident. We all opted for this tough job because our families are poor,” she adds.
V R Vijayakumar, district secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation Workers Association affiliated with the CITU, said the employees did not deserve a harsh punishment. “All who faced action belong to less-privileged families. It was an emotional response. The authorities should not have given such a severe punishment. Also, there was no proper inquiry and action was taken without hearing the staffers. That is legally and morally incorrect.” He says all employees are members of his organisation.