I am Murugeshwari, and I have been working as a manual scavenger since 2013 at Padanthal Panchayat, Sattur Union. I am working as a consolidated staff member. On 07.01.2020, the government of Tamil Nadu issued an order stating that those working on consolidated pay will be treated as special period staff with an increase in their salary and also arrears to be paid. As a special period staff, now I am getting Rs 7,600. However, I did not receive the arrears.

A few months ago, I brought this issue to the attention of the Madurai Legal Awareness Coordination Committee (MLACC), who were coming to our village for training. The staff gave me a copy of the GO, helped me to prepare an application and guided me to submit all documents to the Block Developmental Officer (BDO) of Sattur. I submitted the documents. For a long time, I did not receive any response. Once again, I met the BDO and raised my concern. He asked the Secretary of the Panchayat to bring the register and checked the document. He found out that I had not been paid the arrears. He immediately ordered the Secretary of the Panchayat to release my arrears payment. In a few days, my account was credited with Rs 21,900. I thank the MLACC for their training, guidance and handholding support.

– Murugeshwari, Padanthal, Sattur