Plea Before Delhi HC Seeks Action Against Hamdard Hospital For Terminating 84 Nurses

A petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking for appropriate action against HAH Centenary Hospital of Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR) for terminating the service of 84 staff nurses for having raised concerns in the context of COVID-19. Filed by Advocate Subhash Chandran K.R., the plea states that HIMSR “terminated the service of 84 staff nurses, including the Petitioner herein in arbitrary manner in the unprecedented pandemic time. It is pertinent to mention that the decision to terminate the aforementioned 84 nurses is clearly a retaliatory move against the health care staffers for having raised legitimate concerns in the context of COVID-19”. The plea submits that the Petitioner and the other terminated nurses had raised demands for access to basic facilities like N-95 masks, sufficient numbers of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), better working hours, drinking water, free COVID-19 tests, adequate quarantine facilities for health care staffers during COVID-19 duty. Further, while discharging her duty, the Petitioner was infected with COVID-19. However, despite showing the symptoms, she had not been provided free testing by the Hospital administration.