When 23-year-old K. Sangeetha picked up a broom to sweep Raja Street on Monday morning she was going through mixed emotions.
It was the first day of her job as a Coimbatore Corporation conservancy worker and she was not quite prepared for the task that awaited her. “I did not expect the sweep the road. Initially it was very difficult. I felt as if all eyes were on me. But I managed to pull through.”
Despite holding a post-graduate qualification in microbiology, she took up the appointment because she always wanted a government job.
“I convinced myself — let me take it, for life does not have to end with me being a conservancy worker. I'll use this as a stepping stone to find better avenues.”
As she continued sweeping, she felt better. “I started seeing the work as volunteering done by NSS volunteers,” she says and adds that when she completed the task and turned back to see the clean Raja Street “I felt happy.”
For 35-year-old N. Padmavathy too, Monday was the first day of work as a municipal conservancy worker. She also took up the assignment because it was a government job and the salary was better than that at her last employer.
The conservancy workers on entry get a little more than ₹17,500 a month. They are eligible for annual increments and pension benefits.
The working hours were another reason for Ms Padmavathy quitting her job as an accountant at a private firm near Town Hall.
“Here I'm happy that I can finish my work early in the evening to return home to my children,” says the mother of two.
The women are among dozens of men and women with under-graduate and post-graduate qualifications who applied for and were appointed for conservancy work . The new staff include those from the Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes.
R. Naveen, a civil engineering diploma holder, says family circumstances forced him to take up the job. “I’m the breadwinner and support my mother and younger sister. That is why I left my job at a private company to take this government job.”
On his first day, he went around his assigned area to educate people on waste segregation and that made him feel good.
For Narayanan (name changed on request) the failure to crack other competitive examinations made him take up this job. He has a Masters in Commerce and 13 years’ experience in a private company.
Mr. Naveen and Mr. Narayanan say they are in a way happy because they are breaking the stereotype equating conservancy work with a particular community.
Welcoming the fact that qualified candidates and persons from outside the SC communities were taking up conservancy work, S. Selvakumar, Member, State Level SC Welfare Committee, said it was a step towards ensuring social equality.
But, such people should not use this as a stepping stone to gain their way to other posts in the Corporation like office assistants as, making a mockery of the system.
A senior Corporation official said the civic body followed the roster system in appointing qualified candidates but did not share details on the exact number of appointees with a college qualification.
Published - March 09, 2020 10:24 pm IST
