PSACS employees want regularisation of services

TNN | Apr 23, 2020, 07:16 IST

Ludhiana: The Punjab State AIDS Control Society (PSACS) employees working in Punjab under the health department since three decades on a contract basis want their demands to be fulfilled. They approached the senior medical officer (SMO) on Monday in this regard.
PSACS President Mahinderpal Singh said, “We are giving services to people living with HIV/AIDS, and injecting drug users. We are also deputed by the Punjab government for other duties like OOAT (Outpatient Opioid Assistant Treatment), pulse polio, and in laboratories of government hospitals. At various times, the former governments promised to regularise our services, but never fulfilled it.”
PSACS general secretary Jasmail Singh Deol said, “Even the current government is not doing any effort for these employees. The PSACS is the only wing of the health department providing services to Covid/HIV/AIDS patients. These employees have no social benefits like insurance, TA/DA, medical, or any other social security scheme. The government has to take the decision of their regularisation in public interest, and until then, pay them double on the pattern of Haryana government.”
Cashier Gurjant Singh said, “In the current tough time of Covid-19, these employees give testing and counselling services to corona positive patients, but still the government is not listening to them. Instead of giving them any benefits, the officers of the health department are forcing them to provide services without proper PPE kits. The department is not giving any reply to letters of union leaders, regarding rights of these hardworking contractual employees.”
Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) Ludhiana district general secretary Devinder Singh commented, “Forsaking their benefits for the sake of the public, the union leaders asked employees to provide proper services. But now, anger against the government among these employees is at its peak, which can lead to a strong agitation, for which the government will be responsible.”
He added, “The union leaders had warned the government to listen to their demands and take necessary action for the benefit of these employees. Otherwise, the services of testing and counselling of Covid/HIV/AIDS and giving medicine to drug addicts will be stopped until their demands are fulfilled.”