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Mayor flags suspected Rohingya, Bangladeshi workers in Lucknow hospitals
In a formal directive to the chief medical officer (CMO), the mayor asked all hospitals to immediately verify the identity documents of outsourced workers. The mayor said the matter required urgent attention as such infiltrators had earlier been found working in cleaning and waste-handling roles in other parts of the city, according to an official letter issued on Thursday.
Expressing concern over the possible presence of Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators working in government and semi-government hospitals in the city, mayor Sushma Kharkwal on Thursday issued a formal directive to the chief medical officer (CMO), asking all hospitals to immediately verify the identity documents of outsourced workers. The mayor said the matter required urgent attention as such infiltrators had earlier been found working in cleaning and waste-handling roles in other parts of the city, according to an official letter issued on Thursday.
Kharkwal said similar letters had been sent multiple times in the past to the police commissioner, railways, and private agencies working with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC). She added that the verification drive had been initiated by her over the past year.
The mayor said the government of India was running a nationwide campaign to identify and deport Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators, alleging their involvement in illegal garbage trade, black scrap syndicates, spreading filth, and night-time thefts in locked houses. She said the LMC had begun identifying such individuals among sanitation workers hired through executing agencies.
According to Kharkwal, it is “possible and likely” that similar infiltrators may also be working in hospitals across Lucknow, especially as these facilities employ large numbers of outsourced workers for cleaning, support, and maintenance tasks. She warned that this could pose security as well as administrative concerns.
In her letter, the mayor directed all hospitals to scrutinise the forms and identity documents of each worker hired through agencies and to obtain affidavits certifying that no Rohingya or Bangladeshi infiltrators are employed. She emphasised that the verification must be completed without delay.
She further instructed that if any such individuals are identified during the verification process, hospital authorities must immediately inform the district administration and police for necessary legal action. She also asked hospitals to report any such findings directly to her office.
Officials in the CMO’s office are expected to issue a circular to all hospitals under its jurisdiction, directing them to comply with the verification drive.
