CHANDIGARH: Eighty one healthcare workers on Saturday came out to protest against the termination of their contract with the UT health department. 

The protesting workers included pharmacists, technicians, nursing staff, safaikaramcharis and paramedical staff who had been hired for COVID services. The workers staged a protest at Matka Chowk in Sector 16.

Aman, a health worker, said that the previous director, health services had promised that their contract would be extended but when they came for work, they were told to leave. He also said that they had been working since the peak of the pandemic and now when the pandemic is showing a downward trend, they have been removed from their jobs.

UT director, health services, Dr Suman Singh stated that the workers were hired under the COVID budget through service providers for a specified time period, which came to an end on September 30, adding that they were aware of the contract period.

Three hundred workers were hired under the COVID budget. On Saturday, 81 of them were asked to leave as their contract had terminated on Saturday. One of the protesting workers said that they appealed to the new director of health services and the medical superintendent but they were helpless.

Source: ET Healthworld