‘Used and discarded’: Laid off staffers to meet municipal officials today

Laid-off medical staff protest outside NESCO centre on Friday

After over a year of service, doctors and other medical staff hired on contract to work at the NESCO Jumbo Covid-19 Centre, received a mail from the civic body on Friday last week saying their employment stands terminated effective from that day itself. The email cited repairs to a section of the centre for laying off approximately 150 workers. The laid-off staff have launched a protest and demanded that they be reinstated. The staff has said they will not stop protesting until the government hears them out.

The doctors and other medical staff have said that until and unless the government takes its decision back, they will continue to protest. Meanwhile, a team from the staff will be meeting senior civic officials to place their demands on Monday.

According to sources, around 150 staff including doctors, nurses, and paramedics have been sent the email. "The staffers worked day and night in service of Covid-19 patients for over a year. Suddenly they received a termination letter from the BMC," the source said.

The laid-off staff say they won't stop protesting unless the termination is rescinded

The mail states, "NESCO DCHC shall be closing Hall B due to some urgent repairs and maintenance services. And hence would be terminating your employment with NESCO wards with immediate effect till the repairs are completed and the wards are ready to open up. Your last working day is July 2."

Dr Shezan Ali Hemani, who was employed at the NESCO centre, said, "Without any notice or prior intimation, we received the mail that we have been terminated. We worked in difficult times and treated so many Covid-19 patients at the centre. There are still 150 Covid-19 patients at the centre."

Hemani added, "We have been told that the centre has to be repaired, so it is being closed and the admitted patients will be shifted to a private agency's camp in the premises. But we believe that the authority had recently built a new section for patients considering the second wave. Instead of shifting patients to the private agency's centre, the authorities should shift them to the new section so that we can take care of them."

"We suspect that the authorities are doing this to award this contract to a private agency in the name of repairs. And we are being laid off in the process," Hemani said, adding, "We will not let this happen and shall meet senior officials on Monday. The protest will continue unless our demands are fulfilled."

Dr Sagar Vyas, who has also been laid off, said, "Many people also received another mail which said that their termination is not final and that senior officials are going to meet to decide on the matter on Tuesday."

Dahisar staff struggles too

Jobless youth who had turned to the Dahisar Jumbo Covid-19 Centre for work amid the lockdown are left jobless again after Cyclone Tauktae damaged it. The centre has been under repairs and the employees have been told not to report to work again as they won't be hired. The workers have been told that only people with degrees in medicine and nursing will be hired.

The laid-off youth have opposed the move saying they treated so many Covid-19 patients during their stint. The workers were hired on contract to serve as ward boys and assistant doctors to treat Covid-19 patients as not many were coming forward to take up the risky job. The youths also said they have received only half of their pending salaries for May.

Pratik Shinde of the dance group ‘Area-67', said, "We gave our 100 per cent when nobody wanted to work at Covid-19 centres. We were told that we will be called to work after the repairs. Even as we were waiting to be called back, we suddenly received half of our pending salaries and a call that we won't be hired again for lack of relevant education. It feels insulting that we are being ignored after the centre's need is over. I had started thinking that I could make a career in this field. But this decision broke them."

Tuesday
Day this week sr civic officials are going to meet to decide on their employment

Inputs from Shirish Vaktania