Jobless youth line up to be isolation centre volunteers
Recruitment aimed at mitigating manpower shortage in government hospitals
LUDHIANA: While most people are confining themselves to their homes in wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, jobless youth in Ludhiana came out in large numbers to apply for the post of volunteers at the isolation wards on Wednesday.
The volunteers, mostly women, including paramedical staff, were seen jostling among themselves as they queued up outside the enrolment centre at civil surgeon office for registration. The volunteers are being recruited as daily wagers to meet the manpower shortage emerging in the government hospital during the Covid-19 crises.As social distancing went for a toss completely, the health authorities had to call the police to bring the situating under control.
Furious on witnessing the chaotic scenes, civil surgeon Dr Rahesh Bagga was seen yelling at the crowd.
Dr Bagga said, “It is sad that we had to call the police to control the situation. These youngsters, who are educated enough, should realise the importance of maintaining social distance. But they did not bother.” Dr Bagga also said that while applicants were jostling with each other, their family members went one step ahead. “Nearly two to five family members were accompanying one applicant. It was as if they were visiting a shopping mall,” said Dr Bagga.
“The applicants should be given tokens to avoid chaos at the enrolment counter,” said Dr Bagga.On the other hand, the youngsters standing in queue said that they were badly in need of a job. “I need a job to help my family in tiding over the financial crises. The government is offering a good amount of money to volunteers on a daily basis. I did not want to lose this opportunity. Yes, there was rush but everyone needs a job these days,” said Gurpreet Kaur, one of the applicants.
Another woman, said that due to the lockdown, her family’s savings were drying up. “My family is in desperate need of money and despite being a trained paramedic, I am sitting at home. As soon as I found about this job, I came here,” she said.
COPS WERE CALLED TO CONTROL CROWD AS SOCIAL DISTANCING NORMS WENT FOR A TOSS WITH VOLUNTEERS POURING IN