5 days after Tejasvi Surya row, Muslim staffers in BBMP war room get jobs back

More than five days after 17 staffers in South Zone war room were suspended and branded as terrorists after a raid by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, officials said the staffers will get their jobs back from Monday.

On May 4, the MP along with MLAs Sathish Reddy, Ravi Subramanya and Uday Garudachar stormed the war room and made allegations of bed blocking scam, during which he read out the names of muslim staffers and questioned their appointment.

The 17 were part of the 212 staffers outsourced by Crystal Infosystems and Services. Within minutes after the MP singled them out, they were branded as terrorists and many of them were picked up by the police in the night.

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Sources said Crystal Infosystems and Services, the company which had outsourced the employees to the BBMP, met Thulasi Maddineni, the IAS officer in charge of the South Zone war room, on Saturday and requested for the reinstatement of the staffers considering that none of them were connected to the bed blocking issue.

To a question, the officer said she has assured the company that the jobs will be restored. "The agency came and requested us to reinstate the staffers. For many of the employees, it is the question of their livelihood. The request was made on Saturday. The staffers will be taken back from Monday," she said.

DH reached out to Zameer Pasha, a helpline staffer who faced the five-day suspension after unfounded allegations. "I am happy to learn that our innocence has been recognised by the officials. Though I am concerned about returning to work, I will resume the work. I have worked with conscience and will continue to do so in the coming days," he said.

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Another suspended staffer, who uploaded patient data on the BBMP portal, told DH on condition of anonymity that he feels insecure. "I am going back to work because I want them to know that I am innocent and have nothing to hide. But I feel that I will be watched all the time. Whether all others do the work or not, I think my work will be scrutinised," he said.

Shivu Naik, manager of the Crystel Infosystems, said he was yet to hear from officials but the move was a good step as none of these staffers were working in the concerned section.

"It's definitely a welcome move. Our company had submitted letters to the BBMP on behalf of the employees as the job was important to them in the pandemic. I will meet the officials tomorrow," he said.

A day after Tejasvi Surya's allegations, the war room had seen attrition as many employees refused to work citing the leakage of their personal data. Surya visited them once again and apologised for the leak of numbers. His office has clarified that the MP did not apologise for what happened to the Muslim staffers as reported by some media.