KOCHI: Jeena Jiji from Nayarambalam, a nursing assistant, was one of the nearly 1,600 temporary staff hired in Ernakulam district as part of the Covid Brigade formed by the state government to fight the pandemic.
The Covid Brigade was disbanded on October 30. However, Jeena and the others are yet to receive the risk allowance promised to them even after working at the General Hospital (GH) for four months. Not just the promised risk allowance and other remuneration, the temporary staff say that other than a piece of paper mentioning the date of their joining and termination, they did not get proper recognition for the hours they put in.
When Jeena began Covid duty, her husband Jiji V J was terminated from the electrical shop, where he had worked for nearly 10 years, as the others feared getting infected. Now, the family, which includes two schoolchildren and Jeena’s 73-year-old mother, lives at the mercy of others. “Upon seeing me struggling to pay children’s school fee, a doctor helped me,” says Jeena.
Jeena says she used to get Rs 9,000 as risk allowance, besides a salary of Rs 13,500 per month at PVS Hospital, where she was a nursing assistant. The amount was a huge help for the family. She worked at PVS from October 13, 2020 to June 16, 2021. She was shifted to the GH the next day, where she worked till October 4. At the GH, Jeena was appointed as a multipurpose staff instead of a nursing assistant. The officials cited some discrepancies in her certificate as the reason, she says.
When they did not get the promised risk allowance and other remuneration, Jeena and the other temporary staff contacted Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan. “He said the fund for risk allowance is disbursed from the Centre. However, when we contacted the National Health Mission, the officials said they were yet to receive the funds. I haven’t received salary from September 24 to October 4 too,” she says.
They also complain about the lack of respect shown to them by the authorities while giving them their work certificate. “There was no appreciation, just a piece of paper mentioning the date of joining and leaving. We had to make multiple requests to the higher officials to sign even those,” Jeena says.
Lack of support
Relatives Jisha Manoj and Jency Jinny from Irinjalakuda had also been working at the GH. On September 10, their two-wheeler collided with a bus while they were on their way to the hospital. The vehicle’s handle pressed into Jisha’s chest and she died of internal bleeding the same day. Jency was seriously injured.
“We did not get any insurance amount or other financial aid,” says Jency, whose left arm remains immovable. She is awaiting one more surgery. Jency was a daily-wage teacher in an unaided school and joined the GH on May 28 after seeing an advertisement. During the pandemic, schools were closed and she had applied for the job at the GH with Jisha, who is her husband’s sister. Initially, they were offered food and accommodation at Maharaja’s College.
Confusion with job title
Some Covid Brigade members say they were denied proper designation while working at the special centre at the GH. All the nursing assistants were grouped under ‘multipurpose’ staff. Hence, the certificate has no value when applying for a nursing assistant’s job elsewhere. When they tried to apply for a job through the employment portal of the government, the operator turned them down citing technical issues and demanded a ‘discharge certificate’.
Pre-Covid, Cherayi beach resident Radhika V R was a nursing assistant in a private hospital. She worked at the GH from May 20 to October 30, and was among those categorised as ‘multipurpose’ staff. All she got was `13,500 monthly salary and a single Onam allowance of Rs 1,210.
“In future, people will not join if the government calls them in a similar critical situation. Despite working for months during such a critical situation, there’s no guarantee of proper wage or a certificate. And even after repeated queries, no official has given us a proper answer. All we hear is that there is a lack of funds. There were times when neighbours were afraid to talk to us as we worked closely with Covid patients. Still, we worked as we considered our duty to be of paramount importance,” she says.
Sudden termination
The temporary workers allege they did not get proper notice period or letter mentioning the last day of their service. Though there were rumours that their service will be over by the end of October, there was no proper communication, they allege.
Another temporary staffer Priya P B, a native of Edavanakkad near Vypeen, remembers how she used to leave for work at midnight, locking up her two small children at home. Her husband Biju is a fisherman and her children study in school. “Since there was nobody else to take care of the children, we locked them inside the home after keeping food for the next day,” she says. “We took so much risk expecting a risk allowance. I worked from May 28 to October 29. Even on October 30, my name was listed on the duty chart. After leaving the hospital on the morning of October 30, I got an SMS that I had been let go from service. The frequent rain has disrupted mu husband’s work and now that schools have reopened, our expenses have increased. If I get the money now, it will help us immensely,” she says.
Ministry’s order
A May 3 government order from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said all professionals who sign up for minimum 100 days of Covid duty and complete it successfully will be given the Prime Minister’s Distinguished Covid National Service Samman from the Government of India. “The Central Government recommends to State/UT Governments to consider giving preference in regular government appointments of health professionals through the respective Public Service Commission / other recruitment, for those health professionals under this special scheme, who complete a minimum of 100 days of Covid-related duty,” it had said.
Temporary employees recruited for Covid duty in the Ernakulam General Hospital are yet to receive risk allowances for the past several months. Many say they did not even get proper certificates which has made job hunting a difficult task