Kudumbashree staff made to work without gloves

KOZHIKODE: Members in the Kudumbashree units who are engaged in door-to-door waste collection have been forced to work without gloves and masks owing to official delays . They are yet to receive the gloves and masks for the monsoon season.
The civic body used to distribute two pairs of gloves every month to help the Kudumbashree members avoid contact with the waste at the time of segregation and collection.However, the members said that the poor quality of the gloves were forcing them to work without it for more than three weeks in a month as the gloves get worn out in just one week. A member of the Varakkal Kudumbashree unit who preferred anonymity, said that though the members have been registering complaints about the poor quality of the gloves being distributed, no step has been taken so far by the civic body to address the issue.
“We have been forced to work using plastic carry bags as gloves to avoid infection,’’ said the member. According to the corporation Kudumbashree office, the number of members has declined to 320 from 750 workers in 2000. Many members left the job of daily waste collection owing to various health ailments as they have been working in unhygienic conditions without any protection. P P Shija, chairperson of North CDS, said that the issue has been brought to the attention of the Kudumbashree superintendent. “The superintendent informed that new gloves will be distributed soon. The gloves, sarees, rain coat and masks will also be distributed at the earliest,’’ she said.