Voluntary retirement for conservancy workers

RESPITE: Ailing conservancy workers of the Coimbatore Corporation await their turn for a medical check-up for voluntary retirement at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital recently. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan.

The Coimbatore Corporation is facilitating voluntary retirement for some of its conservancy workers whose health condition is affecting their work.

The State Government had issued an order that workers under the age of 53 years could be offered the option of voluntary retirement if medical tests established that their health did not permit them to work.

When these workers retire, a legal heir in their family will be provided employment as conservancy worker. The civic body says both the ailing worker and the Corporation are benefitted by the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). “Conservancy will be smooth only if the health condition of the workers is good,” according to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra. “We found that absenteeism among the workers was because of bad health. And, conservancy cannot suffer because of this,” he said recently.

Now, the Government Order brought respite for the ailing worker, provided job for a legal heir in his or her family and also ensured that the vacancy was immediately filled, he pointed out.

Assistant City Health Officer R. Sumathi said that out of 160 to 170 workers in the VRS category, 28 had been short-listed for retirement recently. They turned up before a medical committee at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for certification that they could be considered for VRS. The official said the health condition of these workers impeded their functioning on the field. A leg each had been amputated for three of them. Two of them underwent amputation because of high diabetes and the other because of an accident.

Six workers had paralysis of one of the limbs and the rest suffered from heart diseases. All these problems were detected during the medical camps organised by the Corporation for the workers.