SC notice to Delhi, Maharashtra and Bengal on plight of Nurses

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sought responses from the governments of Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal, some of the worst Covid-19 affected states, on a petition by a nurses’ association alleging that they were forced to do round the clock, backbreaking work despite inadequate PPEs, lodging and quarantine facilities as well as lack of incentives.

A bench comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice S K Kaul and Justice M R Shah, which urged "taking care of corona warriors", said the SC has already passed orders for providing adequate PPEs to doctors and healthcare workers. But given the respect and appreciation the court has consistently given to healthcare workers, petitioner association's counsel V K Biju did not have to labour hard to persuade the bench to entertain the PIL.

In another PIL filed by Arushi Jain, a doctor who complained of lack of adequate quarantine facilities and non-payment of salaries, solicitor general Tushar Mehta agreed with the SC and petitioner's counsel K V Vishwanathan that payment of timely salary to doctors and healthcare workers was essential. He said the Centre would issue a direction under the Disaster Management Act and any breach in paying timely salaries to corona warriors would be made a criminal offence.

Appearing for Mumbai-based 'United Nurses Association', Biju told the court that despite working selflessly and round the clock without any additional incentives, the nurses had been shortchanged as Maharashtra government invoked Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against them to force them to carry on working without rest. The bench asked the three state governments to file their responses within four weeks.

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