Protesting a move by the BMC to relocate them to a place where social distancing would prove to be an issue as would shared toilet facilities, staff from the NESCO Jumbo Covid centre at Goregaon in Mumbai staged a protest on Sunday.
According to the protesters, neither the boarding nor the lodging was up to the mark in the new location; sharing common toilet facilities meant the risk of infection, as they were handling corona patients. Civic officials said they had noted the protesters’ demands and would shortly address the issues of concern.
One of the employees said the civic body was planning to shift them to a place where more than 20 people could stay but maintaining social distancing would be difficult. Further, they have not been getting proper food and transportation, among other things. “On the one hand, the civic body is spreading a message to follow social distancing to keep Covid at bay. But we are being transported in a bus with more than 50 people daily and the fear of contracting the infection looms large as we work non-stop in Covid wards,” said Sakshi Rathod, a nurse at the NESCO Covid Centre.
She further said their main aim in protesting was to draw attention to their demands, which were not being fulfilled by the BMC. Each time they only got empty assurances, she said. This time however, the protesters insisted their demands be fulfilled with immediate effect. “We are far from our family and handling Covid patients at the centres and here, not even our basic, normal demands are fulfilled. Many of our colleagues have tested positive and we do not want to live in groups. Currently, everyone has a separate flat with a toilet in it, but the BMC wants us to stay in a hall, which we refused to do and protested,” Rathod added.
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