Confusion prevailed in Mufuskhanpet village in Tiruvallur district after local administration officials reportedly snatched the identity cards of 74 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) workers and threatened them, forcing them to undergo COVID-19 tests on Tuesday.
Over 74 workers including persons with disabilities work under the MNREGA scheme in Mufuskhanpet village panchayat, Sholavaram Union, Tiruvallur district. “On Tuesday, the panchayat staff approached us and asked us to undergo the COVID-19 test as we have been working as a group. We refused stating that we did not have any symptoms, but they immediately snatched all our identity cards and went away,” claimed A. Amudha, a beneficiary.
When the workers went to the Panchayat office to take back their cards, the staff told them that they would get it back only if they took the test. “Around 50 of the workers went and took the test fearing for their jobs. After that, when the workers, who took the test, got their identity cards back back on Wednesday, the words ‘COVID Done’ was written on them,” alleged D. Anandakumar, Tiruvallur district president, Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently-Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC).
The workers said that the government machinery, instead of allaying fears about the test and COVID-19, is arm-twisting daily wage earners to undergo the test. “Most of them refuse to take the test out of fear. They officials should have won their trust and educated them about the procedure instead of threatening them and snatching their identity cards,” he added.
A local administration official denied that the workers were forced to undergo the test after their cards were snatched. “A COVID-19 testing camp was conducted in the village and we wanted everyone to undergo the test,” said the official.
