“The former director, health services promised us that our contract would be extended but when we came for work, we were asked to leave. This is not justifiable,” said Aman, one of the health workers. He added, “We had been working since the peak of Covid and now when the health department is seeing a downward trend in cases, they have removed us from our jobs.”
UT director, health services Dr Suman Singh said, “The workers were hired under the Covid budget through service providers for an agreed duration, which came to an end on September 30. They knew about the contract period.”
During the pandemic, 300 workers were hired under the Covid budget. On Saturday, 81 of them were asked to leave after termination of their contract on Saturday. “We appealed to the new director of health services and the medical superintendent as well but they seemed helpless. Now, we are jobless,” said one of the protesters.
