BENGALURU: With 40 postal staffers losing their lives in the second wave of the pandemic till date and 610 still Covid active, running the show for the last two months has been a tough balancing act for the Karnataka Postal Department.
So, the declaration of postal employees as frontline workers has come as a huge morale booster for them as they can now get priority in vaccination.
Of the 40 deaths, 23 were village postmasters and postmen/ women (grameen dak sevaks), reveal data released by the Karnataka Postal Circle.
Three drivers, three stenographers, five accountants and six regular postmen have also lost their lives.
“Due to persistent efforts undertaken by us with the CM’s Secretariat, postal staff have been declared as frontline workers. A total of 11,560 employees in the 18-45 age group and 19,647 in the 45- plus group will now be vaccinated,” Chief Postmaster General (Karnataka Circle) Sharda Sampath told The New Indian Express.
The department has already organised 53 vaccination camps where 5,477 employees have been vaccinated.
Also, family member of 13 employees, who died of Covid, have been given jobs in the department on compassionate grounds, said Sampath. The Karnataka Circle has also developed an app called ‘Covi Suraksha’ that updates the details of the first and second doses of all those who have been vaccinated, she said.
“A blood plasma bank, too, has been put in place for the staffers.” The department witnessed 767 positive cases and 117 patients have recovered.