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Covid risk allowance: No choice but to take to the streets: TU

02 Oct 2021

By Ruwani Fonseka Health sector workers have no choice but to take to the streets to get their voices heard and regain the discontinued Covid-19 risk allowance, the Joint Health Workers’ Union (JHWU) told The Sunday Morning. This occurred in a backdrop where uncertainty was growing about how the ongoing health worker protest would affect the public as well as Covid-19 treatment plans. Amidst ongoing protests, the Government’s move to stop issuing the Rs. 7,500 Covid-19 risk allowance to health sector employees led to health sector trade unions (TUs) protesting the move. The Government urged workers not to disrupt the Covid-19 care of infected persons as the country gears up to lift more public health regulations in stages. Health worker trade unions argued that they incurred an average of Rs. 20,000 a month in additional expenses during the pandemic. However, the Ministry of Health pointed out that the budget allocation for the risk allowance was approved only for a three-month period and that it needed to be resubmitted for approval. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (JCPSM) and Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists (SLAGMLT) President Ravi Kumudesh cited many reasons for the increase in expenses incurred by healthcare workers. “Rs. 7,500 is a meagre amount of money when compared to the time, effort, and risks that healthcare workers face on a daily basis. We have calculated that an average of Rs. 20,000 in additional expenses was incurred by each worker every month since the beginning of the pandemic,” Kumudesh stated. “Due to the imposition of lockdowns, public transport was unavailable, and workers used their own modes of transportation to commute. Thus, this is a small allowance which was given to ease the burden on healthcare workers. Just as doctors are given car permits and have the opportunity to work in the private sector, these government employees must be given this allowance,” he added. Kumudesh opined that the Government may have halted the payment of this allowance in order to build a “barrier” between the public and healthcare workers. “Healthcare workers are portrayed in a negative way. For example, the vaccination drive which is run by the Sri Lanka Army is praised even though they are doing our job, which they are not qualified for. Through this, the Government has built a barrier between the public and healthcare workers. People believe that everything is under control, but in reality, healthcare workers risk their lives and work endlessly to save the lives of others. This is why, I think, the Government is doing this – to make the Army look like heroes,” he told The Sunday Morning. JHWU General Secretary Ven. Tempitiye Sugathananda Thera told The Sunday Morning that the only reason the health workers were resorting to such actions was because they felt that their voices were unheard. “The voices of healthcare workers have been drowned. They have no choice but to take to the streets in protest. However, proper protocols are being followed. They wear masks and maintain physical distance based on the location of the protest. The teachers were not working, and their voices were eventually heard. Similarly, we are left with no other choice now,” he stated. Ven. Sugathananda Thera also stressed that care for the public through Covid-19 care centres would not be compromised while the protests were ongoing, “as healthcare workers work with passion”. Responding to these statements made by health sector trade union representatives, Public Health Services Deputy Director General Dr. Hemantha Herath said that the contract for the special risk allowance was only allocated for three months. “The budget was approved for only three months, beginning in the month of June. Thus, the allowance was paid for the months of June, July, and August. If the allowance was required, then it should be passed once again through the proper formalities,” Dr. Herath explained. Several attempts to contact Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella and Ministry of Health Secretary Dr. S.H. Munasinghe proved futile.


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