Over 150 staffers laid off from Delhi's super speciality hospital as Covid beds lie vacant

NEW DELHI: A total 150 outsourced staff hired for Covid-19 duty during 2020-21 at a Delhi government-run super speciality hospital were on Friday “sacked” by authorities due to administrative reasons, officials said.

Currently all beds reserved for Covid patients are “lying vacant” at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) in east Delhi as Covid-19 patients have not been coming for admission for the last few months, which is one of the factors behind the decision, a senior official said.

“About 500-600 staff — sanitation workers, security personnel and nursing orderlies — were hired via an outsourcing agency for Covid duty during 2020-21. As no Covid patients are getting admitted, so we have surplus of staff, and hence 150 were sacked after much consideration,” an official said.

 A group of sacked outsourced staff also sat on the floor of the hospital’s lobby to protest the decision. Sources claimed that another factor behind their sacking was “below satisfactory performance”.

 “However, these staff are all trained, and if tomorrow Covid cases rise again, we may rehire from among these people, accordingly,” the senior official said. RGSSH has 650 beds and it has been one of the main dedicated Covid facilities in Delhi since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.