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Rural pharmacists boycott Covid-19 duties in Punjab, demand regularisation, salary hike
Protesters say government has not renewed pharmacist’s contracts this year, demand medical insurance
Pharmacists posted at dispensaries under the panchayat department on Friday boycotted their Covid-related duties and staged a protest demanding regularisation of jobs and hike in salaries.
They raised slogans against the government outside Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon’s office.
“Members of the Punjab Rural Health Pharmacy Officers Association have been working for the last 14 years for Rs 10,000 per month in over 1,186 pharmacies. The government officials have time and again promised us that our salaries will be increased but nothing has been done on ground,” said Kamaljeet Singh Chauhan, vice-chairperson of the association.
“The government hires pharmacists on contractual basis and this year the contracts have not been renewed. The pharmacists have been assigned emergency Covid-related duties at different public places, including the Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple, ICP Attari, Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport, to medically screen people. Despite working in the emergency situations, the government is not fulfilling our demands,” he said.
The association’s district president Gurdeep Singh said, “Besides regularising our jobs, the government should increase the salaries of frontline warriors. The employees should be provided medical insurance and the benefits that are available to other medical staff.”
Singh said all pharmacists of the state had boycotted Covid-related duties on Friday and protesters were being staged in different districts of Punjab.
“We will re-join our Covid-19 duties once the government assures us regularisation of jobs and hikes our salaries. If our demands are not fulfilled we will intensify our protest,” a protestor said.
