Healthcare workers demonstrate in Jessore

Nurses, ward members, and other staffers of several private clinics have formed a human chain in Jessore.

The protestors say they are being laid off, forced to go on leave without pay, and are not receiving due salaries and payments, forcing them to take to the streets. 

Around 50 such healthcare workers took part in the demonstration at Jessore Hospital intersection in the city around 12pm on Friday.

The demonstrators said private clinics in the districts are slowly shutting down due to fewer patients and lack of doctors. Now, private clinics are laying off healthcare workers, putting them on leave without pay, and the clinics that are still open are not paying their employees on time.  

In this regard, they have requested the government's intervention and would like to receive salary allowances as well as food supplies, as more and more of them are being put out of work.

Contacted, Queens Hospital Manager Mithu Saha said they were not made aware of any inconveniences faced by their healthcare staff beforehand. “It is true we get fewer patients these days but we are not laying people off and are disbursing everyone’s salary on time. We don’t want to inconvenience our healthcare workers in this time of crisis.”