The workers are the driving force of Tiruppur and I could not have them suffer during such a huge crisis," says district collector Dr K Vijayakarthikeyan
Daily wage labourers, migrant workers and marginalised communities across India have been grievously affected by the steps to flatten the curve. In Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other cities, thousands are going hungry, sleeping in filthy spaces under bridges, facing apathy from employers, people and authorities alike. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, the hapless workers can neither go back home nor survive this lockdown.
However, at the other end of the spectrum are scores of officials and people coming together to help the needy in the doldrums. Like the case in Tiruppur, the textile city of Tamil Nadu, where District Collector, IAS Dr K Vijayakarthikeyan is spearheading a relief kit distribution initiative to ensure that factory workers stay well-fed and safe.
The city has a population of around 3 lakh workers from Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. With strict lockdown rules implemented all over the country, many of these workers are now stranded, some even without the means to have a decent meal.
To assimilate and organise the information on workers and centrally-monitor all the relief activities Vijayakarthikeyan first set up a control room.
"We have categorised the workers into three groups. One where the employers take care of the accommodation and food. The second group consists of labourers who get food and essentials but do not have accommodation. The third category is of workers who have neither. Our focus is on the last," the officer informs.
He also made sure to employ multilingual operators in the control room to communicate with the labourers from a diverse background. Whenever they receive a lead about a worker or a community of workers going hungry, the control room gets to work. With over 1,200 volunteers and government officials spread all across the district of Tiruppur, the control room operators have to assign specific tasks to the right person.
"We verify the details of the workers as soon as we get the call. Among the things we ask is how much their employers are providing. Those who have been abandoned or left without pay are given utmost priority. There are many who are not on permanent payroll. Our aim is to ensure their safety first," Vijayakarthikeyan.
Once the information is verified, the operators get in touch with the local authorities or volunteers and delegate the task to them.
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