After colleague’s death, Thane EPFO staff blame management apathy

Say they were made to attend office in a building located in a Covid-19 hotspot without precautions

A31-year-old employee of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) succumbed to Covid-19 in the early hours of Tuesday, and his colleagues, four of whom are infected too, are blaming the senior management’s apathy for his death.

Their biggest grievance is that they were forced to come to office despite the building being located inside Thane’s Wagle Estate – a Covid-19 hotspot. And that they were not provided any precautions The five employees, including the victim, had tested positive for Covid-19 last week. They allege that there was no provision for testing them, nor did the management arrange for their hospitalisation. They say they do not have insurance cover either.

They have now written a letter listing all their grievances to all zonal officials and the labour ministry. The victim was a senior social security officer.

“He didn’t have any other disease or medical condition. He died within a couple of days of being hospitalised. This has shocked all of us. We are now scared about our own health and of our families,” said secretary general of EPFO staff Union Rakesh Acharya.

Despite the state government’s directive allowing only 50 per cent staff or less in essential service offices, the organisation was working at full strength, he said. “We didn’t mind the work because we settled more than lakhs of claims with record disbursement of crores in Maharashtra alone,” said Acharya.

What has angered them is the apathetic behaviour of their seniors. “We were not tested despite our colleagues being infected. Since they had no empanelled hospital or monetary compensation for employees, we had to pool in for hospital expenses of staff members. High-risk contacts of the infected employees were not allowed to quarantine at home, and were forced to report for duty,” said Acharya.

He said since the outbreak they have written 12 letters to the management. None have been acknowledged. Additional PF commissioner, Thane, D Remmie, remained unavailable for comment.