Lab technicians to wear black bands in protest

: The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Lab Technician Association has decided to wear black bands to work on Tuesday. The step has been taken to highlight the discriminatory incentive rollout for medical teams battling the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

The association said while the government announced a 25 per cent additional salary as an incentive for healthcare officers and staff, the rapid response team (RRT) of Covid testers, which has been working without a break since March 2020, has been promised just 10 per cent incentive.

The state president of the lab technician association Yogesh Upadhyaya said despite protests the technicians would continue to go out to test the people.

“Many of our technicians have died after testing positive.

All of them have been working without break since March 2020. But we are proud of the fact that we are playing a role in the fight against the pandemic,” Upadhyaya said adding he hoped discrimination would end. The lab technicians have also decided to burn copies of the government order regarding discriminatory incentive rollout to healthcare teams as a mark of protest.