Mangalruu: Health workers and other government-appointed contract workers for conducting surveys or data collection in Bantwal and Puttur region are facing the brunt of the Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) movement. At a few homes, people are refusing to co-operate and suspect that the health workers are collecting data for NRC in the guise of health programmes.

Several cases of public refusing to share data have been reported. Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said immediate steps have been taken to spread awareness. The issue has come to our notice and we are concerned about ASHA workers. We also have the economic census coming up, she said.

DHO Dr Ramakrishna Rao said that the health department’s concern is only public health and and controlling spread of communicable diseases. We are seeking public support in this regard, he said.

Earlier in the week, Punjalkatte police registered a case against nine residents of Kallagudda in Belthangady for accusing contract workers of collecting data for NRC. The residents of the village had objected to the data collection, the women workers were gathering data for the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The residents threatened the workers and allegedly snatched away their cellphones and deleted all the photographs they had taken during the past 10 days.

ANTI-CAA NRC POSTERS: Posters against CAA, NPR and NRC are being pasted on walls and boards are being fixed on gates of houses asking people spreading awareness on CAA/ NRC and NPR to stay away. The poster reads, ”We are aware that the NRC, CAA and NPR are against the Constitution. There is no need for the people to visit us and spread awareness on the subject.” Several organisations have joined in this campaign and such boards are found mostly in Bantwal and Puttur areas.