PANAJI: A majority of the 430 multi-tasking staff (MTS), who were hired at the height of the second wave of the pandemic and given the arduous task of serving in Covid-19 wards, have not received their first salary even five months later.
“We were hoping that we would get paid at least before Ganesh Chaturthi, but barring 40, the rest of us are yet to receive our salaries,” said an MTS posted at GMC’s superspecialty block where Covid-19 patients are treated. MTS were hired for a monthly salary of Rs 17,000.
A 25-year-old Satish Naik, who was jobless after completing a course in electronics at ITI, said he decided to work as an MTS in the hope of getting a steady job. “At the time of hiring, we were told that we would be posted in Covid-19 wards. I agreed as I had failed to find regular employment for the past several years. I lifted bodies, placed them in body bags, shifted patients to different wards, and segregated waste, but here I am, still having to beg from others for my daily expenses,” he said.
Naik said that when he joined in May, he was posted in Covid-19 wards with nine other MTS. Within days, however, seven quit as they were rattled by the sight of people dying. “During our shift, we had to handle two to three bodies everyday and had to then shift them to a morgue. It’s scarier during the nights, and some could not handle the work,” he said.
A colleague of Naik’s who lives in Sattari, said their services haven’t received due recognition when many others were terrified of helping Covid-19 patients.
‘Parents are poor, won’t be able to find another job’
“I haven’t even paid the vehicle owner who drops and picks me from the GMC daily,” he said. “Despite not getting paid, I chose not to quit the job as there is no going back for me. My parents are poor. I won’t be able to find another job.”
Their contract, he said, was of a six-month duration and extendable by another six months. “There is no guarantee that we will have our jobs next month. We haven’t been paid so far. It is not difficult for them to send us home. We had approached the GMC’s accounts office regarding our salaries but haven’t got a clear answer,” he said.
Sangeeta Chodankar, an MTS, does clerical work although she has an MCom, while her colleague has a BA. Both are still awaiting their salaries.
Dattaram Sardessai, director of administration at the GMC, said he has already processed the salary papers of all newly recruited MTS and had submitted them to the directorate of accounts prior to Ganesh Chaturthi. He said he was unaware that the MTS were still not paid.
“I will have to check. Nobody has approached us so far over non-payment of salaries,” Sardessai said.
Names of the MTS have been changed to protect identity
