Stating the figures while speaking to the media, BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal praised the employees for their efforts and assured that they would get the benefits declared by the central and state governments and the civic body
Health workers look for COVID-19 patient in Dharavi. Pic/Ashish Raje
Lack of an official database on the number of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths within the system and repeated demands from employees' unions got the BMC working on it a couple of days ago. After almost two months of the lockdown, it has finally come up with the information – 1,529 staffers have tested positive and 25 have died of COVID-19 till now. The civic body has more than one lakh employees and contract workers.
Stating the figures while speaking to the media, BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal praised the employees for their efforts and assured that they would get the benefits declared by the central and state governments and the civic body.
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As per the order dated April 17, the BMC had declared R10 lakh compensation for the family of a staffer who dies of COVID while performing his/her duty, but they are not covered under the insurance scheme of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
"The central scheme is only for health workers. Our engineers and other staff are also on COVID duty. Will they get benefits of the central scheme? The BMC should clarify this and declare more compensation on the lines of Pune and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations, which have declared R1 crore and R25 lakh compensation, respectively, for those who die on duty," said Sainath Rajadhyaksha, executive president of Brihanmumbai Municipal Engineers' Union.
"Every employee and contract worker is on COVID duty and they face the same kind of risks that health department staffers do. So everyone should get the same compensation," said Ramakant Bane, general secretary of The Municipal Union.
Meanwhile, The BMC will go back to the biometric attendance system, which they had stopped due to the pandemic. A BMC official said, "It will ensure that the attendance of all employees is recorded. For safety purpose, a sanitiser will be provided near the machine."
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