Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 17: The National Health Mission Employees’ Association (NHMEA) today demanded that the employees with underlying medical conditions must be exempted from the COVID duties.
President NHMEA, Muneer Andrabi in a statement issued here said that the authorities are requested to make sure that the lives of doctors and paramedics suffering from diseases like diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, heart ailments or other non-communicable diseases are not put at risk by deputing them to duties at Covid Care Centres or Covid hospitals.
“We request the administrators to also exempt healthcare workers who are pregnant and those who are nursing mothers from duties which involve direct contact with Covid patients,” he said.
Andrabi added that services of such employees could be utilized for non-Covid duties in other hospitals to safeguard their lives.
“It is a humanitarian issue. Also, there have been advisories across the world where co-morbid and high-risk health workers have been kept off direct Covid-19 dealing,” he said,
On the other side, the Association’s Chief Spokesperson Abdul Rauoof has urged the government to release COVID incentives in favour of NHM employees at par with other employees.
“We are meagrely paid and due to lockdown our expenditures in the shape of conveyance etc have gone up,” he said.
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