Mumbai: Medical shop owners, workers threaten strike

Many chemists, such as this one at Nehru Nagar, kept their shops open during the complete-lockdown months. PIC/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

For several months, Ashish Rana, 50, a salesman at a pharmacy in Kalbadevi, has been spending nine hours a day travelling to his workplace from his home in Dombivli. Like him, thousands of pharmacy staffers and owners who were working during the lockdown, have demanded railway passes and have threatened to go on strike if they are not considered essential services workers.

Rana's employer has rented a car for him and two of his co-workers who live in Dombivli. "During the lockdown months we would reach in a couple of hours. But now it takes much longer and I spend barely five hours at the shop. Our owner pays for the travel," he said.

Spending a lot

Devang Mehta, pharmacy owner

Footing the travel bills for their workers is a hefty expense for pharmacy owners and they have been doing it for nearly six months now. Devang Mehta, 49, who owns Pooja Pharma on Princess Street not only pays for buses and taxis for staff, but also to transport medicines to hospitals. "I supply life-saving drugs to several hospitals including Breach Candy, Hinduja, Jupiter, Prince Aly Khan, etc. and have to send my workers in a taxi which is an added expense for me. During the entire lockdown, I kept my shop open. Yet the government doesn't consider us essential workers," he said.

'Risking our lives to save lives'

On August 3, the Maharashtra Chemist and Drug Association had submitted a list of over 2,000 staff workers and owners of wholesale pharmacies in the city to the police but were refused permission for railway passes. Hukumraj Mehta, president of the association, said there are also over 4,000 workers of chemists in the city who relied on local trains. "When the government asked all pharmacies to stay open during the lockdown, we honoured the request. Around 100 staff workers tested positive for COVID and several have died. Though we are risking our lives to provide medication to save lives, the police say we are not essential workers," he said.

While a senior police official said they are only responsible for generating the QR codes, a spokesperson from CR said as per protocol, they can only allow people who have been recognised as essential workers.

Ashish Kumar Singh, principal secretary for transport could not be reached for comment.

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