PMC

CAA

National Register of Citizens

NRC

coronavirus

Pune Municipal Corporation

Civic body workers Shaikh and Suravase (below) were barred from conducting the survey by residents from various housing societies (above) around Mitha Nagar; PIC: MAHENDRA KOLHE

Just as the women at Shaheen Bagh have been unrelenting about their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act () and the) even in the face of the noveldisease (COVID-19) and the social distancing it calls for, their peers at Kausarbaug in Kondhwa are inadvertently telling on the city administration’s efforts to fight the pandemic.Zeenat Shaikh and Sheetal Suravase, who work with’s (PMC) health department as team leaders of health workers, were tasked with scouting for people who may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus in societies at Mitha Nagar. They are part of the 125 squads PMC has formed to run a survey across the city. On Wednesday, they landed at the neighbourhood located right across the Kausarbaug protest tents, loaded with 100 forms, with the intent to cover as many households during the course of the day as possible.But their endeavour was trumped by the residents who suspected them of tacitly collecting data for CAA and NRC and almost hounded them away. They finally gave up by the afternoon and left the place, having collected information from barely 15 households, having gained access to only one of the five societies they attempted entering. At most places they were shooed away right from the gates.“I came here in the morning and initiated work with my teammate. However, it soon became apparent that running the survey here was not going to be easy. Most people point-blank refused to share any information with us. Some societies denied us entry, while at others the residents slammed their doors on us. Their collective refrain was they would not respond to any of our queries as they feared they were linked to CAA and NRC,” recounted Shaikh.As word got around that a survey was underway, some of the residents and local social workers gathered around the duo from PMC, questioning and following them around as they tried to go about their assignment. Shaikh and Suravase did engage with their detractors trying to explain the purpose of their survey. They even got some of them to speak to their seniors back at PMC over phone. But nothing seemed to convince the belligerent lot and soon the PMC staffers began to feel overwhelmed by their attitude. They sought the help of their seniors but no back-up was forthcoming, forcing them to retract from the scene.The residents questioned the rudimentary details being sought such as number of family members. “We are scared as we did not know the real purpose of their visit. We were not sure if they really came on a coronavirus survey or to collect data for CAA and NRC. If they were on a coronavirus survey, how come they came without masks and sanitisers? They were likely to speak with infected people and with such lack of precuations they are liable to spread the disease,” defended Imran Shah, a resident of Shreekrupa Society at Mitha Nagar.Adding to their suspicion was the failure of the women in furnish ID cards to authenticate their purpose of visit. “They did not carry any ID cards, nor could they produce any order from the district collector or PMC authorities to back their claim. At a time when CAA and NRC worries are haunting us, how could they expect us to cooperate with any information?” asked Nasir Shaikh, another resident of the area.Imran Tamboli, a social worker from the area, had issues with the nature of the questions. “While they could not show any ID cards, their queries seemed suspect. If they were here to check on the spread of the virus, they should have been asking about symptoms and travel history. Why were the questions about the number of family members, the properties owned by a family and the kind? If PMC gives them an authorisation letter we will be more than happy to help them. But when the fear of CAA and NRC is consuming our minds, how can we randomly show our documents to anyone?” he countered. While clearly upset with the thwarting of the exercise, the authorities have also faulted the two women for showing up without ID cards. “We anticipated that people will ask questions. So even during the training, we’d categorically asked the survey team members to carry their ID cards along. They should have followed it. As for the questions related to CAA and NRC, I’ve asked the head of the health department to address it,” said Shekhar Gaikwad, PMC commissioner.On the other hand, district collector Naval Kishore Ram was particularly disturbed to hear of the Mitha Nagar account. “People need to understand the gravity of the situation. If they are still non-compliant we will have to use force. They cannot refuse data citing such reasons,” he blistered.