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Doctors work with Pune police to provide medical certificates to labourers; decision on transport awaited
We have sent details of migrant workers to respective states and once they reply, we will send the workers, say divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar
The number of labourers who registered their details in order to avail transport back to their native places in Pune crossed 15,000 on the first day itself on Tuesday, according to officials.
While trains have started from various parts of Maharashtra, authorities are yet to give details about Pune.
Divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said, “We have sent details of migrant workers to respective states and once they reply, we will send the workers. The migrants can get preliminary medical check-up done from any private medical practitioner and procure certificate. The process is a bit lengthy and therefore taking time”
The three-step registration requires the labourers to collect forms and enter details. including name, Aadhaar number, phone number and destination. However, the forms will not be processed without a medical certificate stating absence of flu-like symptoms is the second step. In the third step, the information will be sent to respective districts in states.
In Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the onus of registration was put on the local police while the local governments were asked to head the process in rural areas of the district by district collector Naval Kishore Ram.
The Pune city police stations, which have a high number of labourer population in their jurisdiction, have tied up with doctors’ associations in their areas.
The Pune Doctor’s Association, an organisation of doctors from Katraj and Bharati Vidyapeeth area, have joined hands with the police to provide certificates to over 13,000 labourers.
“We have asked the doctors to charge a nominal fee of Rs 50. We have also urged them to not charge from those who cannot pay. There are more than 100 doctors working towards this now,” said senior inspector Vasant Kunwar of Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.
“The police provided us with the copies of empty certificates and around 150 doctors in the area are now issuing certificates. This includes most of the local OPDs,” said Dr Anil Lingade, president of Pune Doctors’ Association (PDA).
“Our OPD is functioning all working hours of the day (10am-2pm and 6pm-9pm) to issue certificates. We have also set up 3 camps in our area where labour camps are located. The camps are monitored by PMC health department staff. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was provided by the health department to the doctors of the medical camp,” said Dr Prashant Daundkar of Wadgaon Sheri, Chandannagar, Kharadi Doctor’s Association.
The doctors at medical camps in Chandannagar, Wadgaon sheri area were provided with blank certificates which were then filled and distributed. However, for the ones who went to private OPDs, they were provided with blank certificate with the form.
The initiative in Kharadi was spearheaded by senior police inspector Shankar Khatke and health officials of the area. The area has about 8,000 migrant labourers.
While the police are bringing te process to a conclusion, the timeline of the labourers’ department remains to be seen.
