More than 450 outsourced medical staff of Sahid Nirmal Mahto Memorial Medical College and Hospital serving Covid patients on Friday carried out a protest over their alleged ill-treatment and being deprived of any extra benefit being front line workers.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to the hospital superintendent Dr Arun Kumar Chaudhary, demanding one month of extra salary as honorarium for their service in line with the benefits given to permanent medical staff. They sent the copies to the ADM (Law and Order) Chandan Kumar, the outsourcing agency Frontline Business solution and Dhanbad MLA Raj Sinha.

“The memorandum bearing the signature of altogether 112 employees of private agency, Frontline Business solution was aimed at drawing the attention of the authorities towards the double standard being adopted towards the outsourced staff despite the fact that all the staff bear the similar risk while working among Covid patients during pandemic,” said one of the protesters to The Telegraph Online.

“We have communicated our demand verbally both to the SNMMCH authorities and our employer Frontline Business solution several times earlier but both shrugged off their responsibilities on one or other pretext leaving us at the mercy of god compelling us to submit a written demand,” said a protester requesting anonymity.

“When we demanded the benefit extra salary as an incentive from SNMMCH administration earlier they claimed that they can’t do anything as we are not their employees and rather the employees of private agency and thus when we turned to private agency they said that there is no provision payment of extra one month’s salary even if we are working during the pandemic and said that they can provide the extra benefit we they get the fund for same from the state government,” said a protester engaged in screening of Covid patients.

“We have recently also heard that if any extra benefit as incentive is to provided that will be given to only such staff like nurses working in Cath Lab and PG block based Covid treatment centers to the hospital who are directly exposed to Covid patients,” said an infuriated outsourced employee who took part in the protest today and added that those like them engaged in the screening of suspected Covid victims are no less exposed than the nurses deputed at Covid treatment centres.

Around 450 staff members including Operation Theatre Technicians, ward boys, lab workers, dresser, record keeping clerk, USC technicians, CT scan technicians, X-Ray technicians, anaesthetic technicians of private agency Frontline Business solution are engaged in SNMMCH for the last five years.

SNMMCH superintendent didn’t answer calls when he was contacted for his response over the issue.