Medical Fraternity requests govt jobs for kin of Covid victims

CHENNAI: Even as the State Government has recently issued an order regularising the working days of government employees who could not come to work during the pandemic, government doctors are upset over the demands of several healthcare workers not being met, such as government jobs.

The government doctors are also awaiting a decision from the government on providing jobs to the qualified kin of the deceased healthcare workers in the pandemic. Of at least 10 government doctors who died during the pandemic, the family of Dr Vivekanandan had requested for a government job.

Dr Vivekanandan was working as an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist at a government hospital in Tiruvallur District. He succumbed to Covid-19 during the first wave during the previous regime.

It was then that Chief Minister M K Stalin had urged the government to provide a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family of the doctor.

Later, a petition was also filed at the Madras High Court to provide job to Divya Vivekanandan, wife of the doctor.

The Court had directed the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS) and State Health Department to consider her for a government job based on her qualification of graduate as BE Computer Science.

Dr S Perumal Pillai, President of Legal Co-ordination Committee for Government Doctors said that the health department had stated in the court that as and when the application of the wife of the doctor reaches the seniority, she will be considered for the job. Despite the court order to consider her qualification and provide a government job, the government has not taken any decision in this regard and the request is still pending.

He also pointed out that the death of few healthcare workers were not identified as Covid-19 deaths due to other illnesses and solatium was not provided.