NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will contribute towards the Centre’s TB eradication programme — Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan — from the salaries of its staff.
For this, the corporation has issued a circular informing that Rs 9,600 will be cut as a one-time deduction from the monthly wages of the staff which will be counted as an annual contribution for providing “nutritional support” to TB patients for a year. Another option is Rs 4,800, which will suffice the nutritional support for 6 months.
The Corporation clarified that the exercise is voluntary. However, it also said that the employees will have to state “in writing” that they are not willing to contribute. “The officers/employees who are not willing to opt to voluntarily contribute under the scheme shall also inform the respective DDOS in writing by December 30, 2022. Otherwise, it will be presumed that they have no objection to opt voluntary contribution,” it stated in the circular.
The corporation has asked all the departments to prepare the list of its employees for the cause and share it with the health department which will “remit the contribution to the authority concerned as per PMTBMBA guidelines.”
The employees said that the amount is huge and should be contributed by the corporation from its own funds rather than salaries. When asked if the exercise is voluntary, they expressed fear of repercussions from the officials if they state their refusal in writing.
“It should have been the other way around. Those who wish to contribute should have been asked to give consent in writing,” an MCD employee said, requesting anonymity. President Droupadi Murmu virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan on September 9, 2022, which is a campaign to mobilise and render community support for persons with TB.
The aim of the campaign is to eliminate TB by 2025. Under this, any person, representative or organization can adopt TB patients and the adopted patients will be taken care of.
This is because TB causes the largest number of deaths among all other infectious diseases in our country. The President noted that India has a little less than 20 per cent of the world’s population, but
has more than 25 per cent of the total TB patients of the world. She also noted that most of the people affected by TB come from the poor section of society, raising a matter of concern.