Medicos demand policy on ex gratia for virus casualties

HYDERABAD:  Doctors and medical staff of the Health Department, on Wednesday, held a candlelight vigil in government hospitals and medical colleges across the State, as part of their week-long protests aimed at highlighting the issues faced by them.  One of their chief demands is that the State government must come out with a policy on the provision of ex gratia to the families of doctors and other medical staff who died of Covid-19. The announcement of the week-long protest programme was made by the Medical Joint Action Committee (MJAC) on Monday. They have also made other demands, including the provision of quarantine leaves. 

EEG technician dies
After battling Covid-19 for about 20 days, a 35-year-old woman EEG technician of Niloufer Hospital breathed her last on Tuesday evening at Gandhi Hospital. She was admitted to the hospital after a week of home quarantine, as her symptoms worsened. The technician, Madhulatha, had been working at Niloufer Hospital for the past 10 years on an outsourcing basis. She was earning around `17,500 per month. Her husband had also contracted the infection, and is still under treatment. 

On Wednesday, the hospital staff, along with representatives of various Health Department employee associations, paid tribute to Madhulatha. They demanded that the government provide financial aid to her family. M Narsimha, the president of TS Medical Contract Employees and Workers Union said, “We demand that the Telangana government provide a compensation of `50 lakh to Madhulatha’s family, in addition to the `50 lakh insurance payment from the Centre.” 

In the recent past, there have been several protests by outsourcing employees of the Health Department, demanding a hike in salary. Narsimha also said that the outsourced staff in Covid hospitals have not even received the incentive of 10 per cent of their salary, as promised by the State.