The Chennai Corporation not recording the deaths of the six workers makes their families ineligible for Rs 50 lakh compensation and a job for immediate family members.
Saravanan’s* family still survives on the provisions he bought a few days before his death. The 45-year-old sanitation worker developed breathlessness on June 4 and gave his swab test at a private lab for testing. On June 6, his test results came back positive and on June 11 he breathed his last in the Omandurar Government Hospital in Chennai.
Sankari*, a homemaker and Saravanan’s wife, and her two daughters, are hoping that the Chennai City Corporation will provide a job to Sankari or the elder daughter to help them tide through.
Like Saravanan, five other sanitation workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation have succumbed allegedly due to the coronavirus. However, not even one death has been recorded as a coronavirus death, allege Corporation workers.
In a letter to the Chennai Corporation on June 18, the Madras Corporation Red Flag Union said, “We request the Corporation to facilitate the disbursal of Rs 50 lakh aid announced by the Chennai Corporation to the workers of Greater Chennai Corporation who contracted the infection during the work.”
In the letter, the union has mentioned names of 4 sanitation workers who died of COVID-19 and TNM has been told that one more worker died after June 18, and the union has also come to know of a sixth death.
The six people who succumbed to the virus are a malaria contract worker, a permanent woman sanitary staff, a permanent male sanitary staff, two permanent electricians and a permanent SWD worker.
The hospital details of the patients’ show that they tested positive for the coronavirus while they were on duty.
Though Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on April 22 announced a solatium of Rs 50 lakh and job to the kin of the frontline workers in case they contract the infection and die during duty, this solatium has not been extended to any of the six families, as their names have not been added to the Corporation’s list of deaths.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had also said that Rs 2 lakh will be given to the workers in case they contract the virus. However, till now many COVID-19 infected workers have not received the compensation, allege workers.
Saravanan’s elder daughter, the first graduate of the family, was waiting to receive her degree in her parents’ presence. But all her dreams have been shattered due to the pandemic.
Selvi, recalling her husband said, “I told him many times to stay at home and take medical leave. But he used to fight with me to go to work. He loved his job very much so he would tell me we should not think about the virus and we should go to serve the people. But I never thought he would leave us like this. I could not even have a last proper look at his face.”
A relative of the family told TNM that the government needs to provide relief immediately. “He contracted the virus and died during duty. So, we asked the Corporation for compensation and a job for the family member. However they told us that the Government Order has not been issued yet and they cannot provide the relief.”
Another sanitary worker, a 45-year-old man and the lone earning member of the family, died of coronavirus in the Stanley Medical College Hospital on May 9. The sanitary worker is survived by his wife and two sons.
“My husband will go to work without taking leave. He worked for the welfare of the people. But now my sons and I are like an orphan with no help,” said Devanayaki*, the wife of the sanitary worker.
“I informed the officials who took him to the Stanley hospital but he succumbed without responding to the treatment. Where will I go now and what will I do? I need to educate my children but I do not even have food to give them. I need the help and the money given by the Corporation. If this is the situation for a Corporation worker’s family I do not know how bad the situation is for other families,” said Devanayaki.
An insider in the Corporation told TNM that when they approached authorities they were told to collect details about the deaths. “We asked the Chennai Corporation officials to record the deaths and disburse the funds. But they told us to provide information on the hospitalization and the test results. Hence we started collecting the information and so far we have received the records of six persons who died of coronavirus. However, the details do not cover the deaths recorded in the district. The number of deaths may go up and we are planning ways to collect the details online,” said an insider in the Corporation.
TNM has reached out to the Greater Chennai Corporation officials for comment and the copy will be updated once we get the response.
*Names changed to protect identity
Source: The News Minute