Demanding PPE kits gets 84, yes 84 nurses fired over WhatsApp in Delhi

At a time when frontline health workers are working day and night to take care of patients affected by the deadly coronavirus, more than 80 nurses have been sacked for demanding good quality personal protective equipment (PPE) kit and N95 masks.

According to reports, at least 84 nurses from Hakim Abdul Hameed Centenary Hospital (HAH Centenary Hospital), run by Jamia Hamdard University, in Delhi have been sacked for demanding good quality PPE kits. N95 masks for better safety, provision of safe drinking water during their COVID-19 duty, and also some form of allowance were among some of their other demands.

Most of the nurses were reportedly terminated without any prior intimation and they got their termination letter on the department's WhatsApp group. Some of them even alleged that they were forced to pay for their COVID-19 test.

"I was tested positive for coronavirus and since then I am under home quarantine. But I received a termination letter. This is nothing less than harassment as we are being treated like this despite working for over 12 hours a day," a nurse was quoted as saying by a report.

Hospital says their contract ended

However, the hospital claims that the nurses were removed because their contracts got expired. 

The nurse said that if this was the intent of the hospital administration, they should have terminated them when their contract got ended. The health worker alleged that at that time the hospital asked them to continue and now suddenly took the decision to terminate 84 nurses.

Some of the nurses alleged that salaries of their colleagues who could not report for duty during the lockdown are also pending.

A nurse claimed that five to six health workers got infected with COVID-19 because of a lack of proper arrangements at the hospital. They have no written a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding his intervention.

Meanwhile, the administration of Hakeem Abdul Hameed Centenary Hospital said that the contract of nurses got expired and a reassessment board has been where they all can sit for the interview.