A section of workers from TASMAC outlets in Madurai district came to the Collectorate on Saturday and sought compensation from the State Government for employees who have succumbed to COVID-19.
C. Ukkirapandi, a TASMAC employee, said that his colleague C. Velmurugan who worked at a TASMAC shop in Chittampatti had died due to COVID-19 earlier this month.
“Although we are given masks, sanitisers and gloves, we deal with at least 1,000 people everyday. Though the government has enforced social distancing, crowds in front of TASMAC outlets become unregulated. We, as employees, cannot identify who has COVID-19. The government must provide us additional protection and ensure personal distancing outside our shops,” he said.
He added that Velmurugan’s family must be given ₹50 lakh compensation and a job for any member in their household.
He said that swab samples must be taken of all TASMAC employees regularly to see whether they have contracted the virus. “Many of our counterparts in other districts have been affected by the virus. I hope the government understands our plight. Apart from work pressure we face, we now have to protect ourselves from this invisible virus too,” he added.
