The Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation's decision to suspend seven sanitation workers and terminate four temporary cleaning staff allegedly for dumping food served as Onasadya seems to have backfired with the Left-aligned workers' unions coming out in protest against it.
The administration had said action was being taken against the 11 workers of the Chala health circle, as they had dumped Onasadya in a waste bin for being asked to report to work at a time when they had scheduled Onam celebrations.
The Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation Workers' Association, affiliated to CITU, which staged a protest in front of the Corporation office on Tuesday accused the Corporation additional secretary of taking action against the workers based on a false report submitted by a health official.
The association has demanded that the workers should be reinstated. Speaking to The Hindu, the Association General Secretary Kannammoola Vijayan said that the workers' version of the events were never heard before taking action against them.
According to him, the workers had reported to work on that day at 5 a.m., instead of 7 a.m., as they had planned to celebrate Onam. They had finished the day's work by around 9 a.m. and had cleared a space near the Chala health circle office for organising Onam celebrations.
However, a junior health inspector arrived at the spot with a tipper lorry and asked them to join for drain cleaning work at Attakkulangara. The work went on for some more hours, after which a section of the workers went home in protest, as their planned celebrations did not happen.
"A few of the remaining went back and dumped the leftover food, which they had arranged with their own money. They had sent a video of this in some Whatsapp groups, which went viral, leading to comments that misinterpreted their actions. These are people who know the value of the food we eat, much more than the ones who criticise them. The same officials who have recommended this inhuman action against them had their own Onam celebrations," said Mr. Vijayan.
According to him, three of the terminated temporary workers are women, while nine of the 11 workers belong to SC/ST communities. The Corporation's action against the workers was initially hailed by a large section on social media. However, another section, including some left supporters, criticised the move.
