Doctors who had come from Kerala to Maharashtra at the government’s bidding are returning as the BMC has not paid them their salaries
Bengaluru: A few days ago, we reported to you a story in which the Maharashtra government gave its nod for the purchase of luxury cars in spite of COVID warriors not getting their salaries.
Also Read: Uddhav Thackeray okays purchase of new cars in spite of pandemic
Now, doctors who had come from Kerala to Maharashtra at the government’s bidding are returning as the BMC has not paid them their salaries.
“All 40 doctors who flew to Mumbai from Kerala have not received their remuneration. They were supposed to work here for two months. Fifteen of them decided to return home last week due to salary issues,” said a doctor associated with the South Asia chapter of Doctors Without Borders that had facilitated the movement of these professionals to Maharashtra during the lockdown, noted a website.
The doctors are also aggrieved that their travel bills are not being reimbursed.
The website adds, “The BMC initially promised to pay by July 5, then deferred it to July 10 and finally to July 13. However, the salaries of the doctors were not credited by July 15.”
A note on salaries:
A special mention about the strength of doctors has been made by the website along with their salaries: It notes, “A team of 40 doctors and 35 nurses had arrived in Mumbai on June 9 after the government requested the Kerala government. They were entrusted with the task of aiding the BMC in setting u a COVID-19 hospital in the city. The BMC had promised a salary of Rs 2 lakh for specialist doctors, Rs 80,000 for MBBS doctors and Rs 35,000 for nurses, along with travel allowances.”
The Maharashtra government, headed by Uddhav Thackeray, had tweaked rules to purchase six new luxury cars for its office bearers and a staff member of the Maharashtra School Education and Sports Department.
When Rome was burning, Nero was indeed fiddling!
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