Staff working on COVID-19 Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Service Quarantine (IMASQ) buses staged a protest at Dharna Chowk here on Wednesday, demanding that the government pay them their salaries immediately.
Staff of around 20 IMASQ buses organised a protest and raised slogans urging the government to clear their dues. Salaries were not paid to the staff for the last three months, and though the matter was taken to the notice of the District Collector, there was no response for the last few days, they alleged.
The government had rolled out the IMASQ buses in June in order to increase COVID-19 testing. The increase in testing facilities was necessitated due to the huge demand, as well as several government establishments like the Railways making it mandatory for their staff to get tested.
The IMASQ staff have been conducting tests at bus stands, railway stations and other public places in the district. The staff collect swab samples at the counter and issue the results in just ten minutes. The data is shared with various government departments dealing with COVID-19 prevention and treatment.
“The government is paying ₹18,000 to data entry operators, ₹20,000 to lab technicians and ₹22,000 to linemen on each bus. However, salaries have not been paid since August, and there is no response from the government despite several representations,” said an IMASQ employee.
The IMASQ staff collect around 3,000 samples every day and give the results immediately. However, due to non-payment of salaries, services were suspended temporarily and the public are forced to visit private hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, said a passenger Ch. Venkata Swamy, at the Vijayawada Railway Station.
