An organisation of Health Department employees aligned to the pro-Left All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has accused the government of sidelining a section of staff during the Independence Day celebrations on Sunday.
The said the government honoured select health workers during the events held in various districts, considering them as special guests. Those selected included doctors and other health workers who were at the forefront of COVID duty.
However, according to functionaries of the Kerala State Health Inspectors’ Federation, health supervisors, public health nurse supervisors, health inspectors, public health nurses, junior health inspectors, and junior public health nurses were left out from the list.
Rajesh Francis, president, and K. Ramjith, general secretary, said the public health staff had been leading containment work from the front ever since the first COVID case was reported. They claimed that from quarantining those who returned from China initially to the ongoing vaccination drive, they were part of every containment work. It was because of their efforts that Kerala stood apart from other States. It was the public health nurses and the health inspectors who ensured that travellers and their contacts observed quarantine properly and send their samples for lab tests. These people also informed them the results.Their efforts in the vaccination drive had been appreciated by many as Kerala was one of the few States that did not waste a single dose. Mr. Francis and Mr. Ramjith said that it was unfair of the government to ignore them during the Independence Day celebrations.
