Eighteen Junior Health Inspectors (JHIs) of the City Corporation face suspension and the possibility of their salary being withheld for failing to carry out TC numbering duty.
The JHIs said this was a violation of an earlier directive by the Corporation, exempting senior JHIs in every circle from numbering duty. The controversy comes at a time when the TC numbering in 100 wards of the Corporation, which had been stopped temporarily after the elections, will resume on Monday.
“The JHIs and other employees of the Health section have heavy workload, from the issue of garbage to that of stray dogs. If all of us were deputed for numbering work, the Health section would come to a standstill. Hence a decision was taken at a meeting in February, attended by the Mayor, Health standing committee chairperson and health officers, to exempt one senior JHI from every circle,” said a JHI.
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The inspectors said deputing them for the work would not help in efficient numbering as they were not familiar with the work. The 18 JHIs were given a memo for not taking part in the numbering work before the election.
“We carried out our duties efficiently during the Attukal Pongala. Also, no one realises the work we do regularly. People would realise it only if we let the garbage pile up for days and clear it all one day,” said the JHI.
They said the working time of 6.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. made it difficult for them to go for numbering. “Most of us come from far off places. We start from homes at 5 a.m. to report for early morning duty. On most days, the work goes on till evening.”
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However, Revenue Officer A. Unnikrishnan said only a handful of health inspectors had refused to do the work.
“The majority of JHIs had reported for the numbering duty. Only a handful of them had a problem. They were given a memo during the last numbering cycle. We are giving them one more chance during the next numbering work,” he said.