Alandurai domestic breeding checkers protest sudden termination from work

Coimbatore: Domestic breeding checkers with Alandurai town panchayat said six of them were terminated from work without prior notice on Saturday, citing their educational qualification. The panchayath had 10 domestic breeding checkers.
Seeking anonymity, one of the workers said she was working with the panchayat on a contract basis for the past seven years for a daily wage of Rs230.
“Earlier, our work involved dengue control activities. But after the breakout of Covid-19 pandemic, we have been doing door-to-door survey. Apart from collecting basic details, we also check the oxygen level and other visible Covid symptoms of people. We help the families in containment zones as well by running errands for them,” she said.
They start work at 7am and call it a day at 2pm. Sometimes, the work goes on till the evening.
“When we reported for work at 7am on Saturday, six of us were asked not to come to work hereafter as we do not meet the educational criteria required to be a domestic breeding checker. Expressing solidarity with us, the remaining four boycotted work,” she said.
They waited in front of the panchayat office to meet the officials, but in vain.
When contacted, a panchayat official said the workers didn’t only meet the educational criteria, which is completion of Class X, but were also inefficient in their work. “I had warned them twice to do their work properly, but they haven’t shown any improvement,” he said.