VILLUPURAM: A worker of the Ulundurpet municipality was allegedly fired by his supervisor earlier this week for having a chest tattoo of VCK leader and Chidambaram MP Thol Thirumavalavan. The supervisor also allegedly hurled caste slurs at the worker.
The complainant A Vijay (25) has been working on a daily wage basis for the municipality for the last one year. Recently, he got a tattoo of the VKC leader's face, which was not against the work policy, said official sources.
According to Vijay, "On September 15, the new supervisor Saravanan saw my tattoo and immediately fired me. When I confronted him, he abused the leader and I with caste slurs. He further said that because I belong to the Scheduled Caste community and have the VCK leader tattoo, I can't work here."
Speaking to TNIE, human rights activist from the NGO Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY ), V Lalitha said, "On any grounds, Vijay can't be sacked just because he has a tattoo. But it is evident that the supervisor has clearly discriminated against him." She added, an FIR under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act must be registered. and the district administration must take cognisance of the issue with action against the supervisor.
Official sources confirmed that municipal workers who work on contract basis have no bar on body tattoos. When TNIE tried to contact supervisor Saravanan, he refused to respond to the issue.