Imagine waking up one day to find your death certificate. That’s exactly what happened to M Arumugam, a conservancy worker from Gudalur in Coimbatore. To his horror, Arumugam discovered that he had been reported dead to the district administration.
Arumugam began working for the Gudalur panchayat in 1998, and was eligible for a permanent contract in 2001. However, when he was to avail the permanent job, he took a 10-day-leave in order to attend to his pregnant wife.
It was during this time, in October 2001, that Assistant Panchayat Director S Jayachandran issued a report to the Panchayat Director stating that Arumugam had passed away.
The report, as studied by The News Minute, has “Appointment of 12 conservancy workers” as its subject line. It goes on to list Arumugam as one of 12 workers eligible for a permanent job.
But the report then goes on to state, “According to the decision taken by the panchayat, among 12 conservancy workers who were supposed to be appointed, one of them was Arumugam. We would like to inform you that he died while he was on the job.”
Arumugam, however, was oblivious that this ‘death certificate’ issued in his name until recently. It was only by chance that the conservancy worker stumbled upon the report at the panchayat office, where he had gone to collect some documents he required.
Speaking to The News Minute, Garkey said:
The proof of the incorrect report stating Arumugam’s death has been submitted to the panchayat. But there has been no concrete response from the administration till date.
He also said that there have been multiple instances where the jobs of contract workers have not been made permanent by the panchayat.
Several workers are being paid anywhere between Rs 120 to Rs 200 per day, despite the Coimbatore district collector decreeing in 2016 that the minimum daily wage should be Rs 300.Garkey
Arumugam and a group of workers staged a protest in front of the District Collector’s office on Monday, demanding that their contracts be made permanent and that proper wages be paid.
Meanwhile, Arumugam has worked on a contract with meagre daily earnings for the last 19 years, all the while waiting for a permanent job. He, and many more like him, await their due.
(This story was originally published on The News Minute.)
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