Frontline workers protest over lack of facilities in Dhanbad

Dhanbad: Over 20 paramedical staff , including nurses and ward boys, on Covid duty at the Central Hospital of BCCL , on Monday protested against the lack of facilities and proper sanitation at their quarantine centre.

The protesters comprising GNMs, ANMs, lab technicians and ward boys disrupted hospital work in the morning hours.

Other nursing staff and ward boys deputed by the district administration attended to the patients at the hospital.

According to the protesters, they were put in dingy rooms without a regular power supply or security , did not get food on time, there was no facility for warm drinking water and there is lack of cleanliness.

Talking to the media, a protesting nurse said, "We are demanding a decent quarantine facility but we are compelled to live in small dingy rooms with frequent power cuts and the living accommodations are without any security."

Another nurse added, "We do not get warm drinking water facilities at the quarantine centre and servings of food are untimely and of poor quality. Despite all these deficiencies, we were carrying out our duty since the last 15 weeks in hospital risking our lives."

She added, "When we raised the issue before the manager of the hospital this morning, we had been asked to continue with the duty and threatened action under the Disaster Management Act."

Nodal officer of dedicated Covid hospitals of Dhanbad , Dr Alok Vishwakarma said, "The demand of the nursing and other paramedical staff seems to be genuine as they only wanted a decent quarantine facility which is their requirement for work. Since the hospital is managed by BCCL, we (district health department) don’t have much say."

A K Gupta, chief medical superintendent of the hospital, said, "We are in the process of talks with the senior officers to sort out the issues."