Holding medical staff pay may be criminalised
NEW DELHI: The Union government is likely to criminalise withholding salaries of doctors and nurses deployed at the frontlines of the battle against Covid-19 and issue guidelines making it mandatory for states to make adequate quarantine and isolation facilities for medical professionals, after a Supreme Court order.
The top court was hearing a petition by a doctor who said medical professionals were not being paid in several regions and found it tough to isolate themselves, citing risks to their families if they are infected.
The court, which last week likened medical staff on Covid-19 duty to soldiers on the battlefield, was assured by the solicitor general that new rules will be issued within 24 hours.
The bench, comprising Justices SK Kaul and MR Shah, directed the Centre to release the order by Thursday. Last week, the judges asked Centre to travel the extra mile: “This is a kind of war. You cannot keep soldiers unhappy during a war.”
The Centre had received a representation last week from the petitioner Arushi Jain indicating problems in salaries and of keeping medical workers’ families safe. The communication flagged the May 15 “Advisory for Managing Healthcare Workers working in COVID and non-COVID Areas of the Hospital” issued by the health ministry, which said that only “highrisk” health care workers or those showing symptoms of Covid-19 should get 14-day quarantine.