Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 18 September, attacked the Centre, accusing it of neglecting the frontline healthcare workers.
Tagging a report on government having no data on the healthcare workers who lost their lives, he tweeted:
“An adverse data-free Modi government! The beating of 'thali' and the lighting of a lamp is more important than security and respect. Modi Government, why are corona warriors being insulted?”
The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday, 16 September, said that the government does not have data on the death of health workers who died due to COVID-19.
Soon after health minister’s statement on health workers, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said the government has lost its moral authority to administer the Epidemic Act and the Disaster Management Act after it failed to reveal the data on the number of healthcare staff who have been affected by and died from COVID-19, even as at least 382 doctors across the country have lost their lives in the line of duty so far.
The apex body of medical associations also stated that healthcare workers' sacrifice is as great as the sacrifice of the soldiers, as both can lose their lives in the line of duty. It also added that treating these martyrs indifferently is national sacrilege and injustice of the highest order.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package
On 30 March when nationwide lockdown was imposed due to coronavirus pandemic, the government launched Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme, which covers healthcare workers (including community health workers) who may have to come in contact with a corona patient, therefore being at risk of getting infected.
The healthcare workers get an insurance cover of 50 lakh rupees. This includes death caused by COVID-19.
The scheme also includes the staff of the private hospitals, retired people, volunteers, urban local bodies, daily wage workers etc.
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