Non-issuance of RT-PCR test certificates by AMC staff irks citizens

Aurangabad, April 19:

Maharashtra government has excluded the industrial sector from the lockdown. The private establishments, which categorised under essential services, are also allowed to function in a fixed time frame. However, it has been made mandatory upon the establishments-owners to ensure that all of them undergoes RT-PCR tests and possess the certificates of the same while on duty. Accordingly, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is witnessing a rush of industrial workers and employees of other establishments for testing at its various centres for the past one month. However, these beneficiaries complained of facing inconvenience and harassment due to the non-issuance of their RT-PCR test certificates by the respective centres.

It is learnt that each person, after giving a swab, is receiving a report (negative or positive) through an SMS on his mobile phone, on the very second day. However, obtaining the certificate (in PDF format) seems to be a daunting task, but they are not getting the certificate in PDF format so that they could produce them in their offices or others on demand.

The AMC's helpline is receiving 150-200 calls daily and the callers inquiring about the certificates. The attendant convinces them telling to collect the certificates from the centres where you had given the swab samples. It may be noted that the AMC had made the facility of issuing the certificates at each centre, but the staff present on duty are dilly-dallying in issuing the certificates. As a result, the majority of personnel are experiencing harassment and inconvenience.

The municipal officer of health (MoH) Dr Neeta Padalkar said, " The testing centres are collecting 2,000 to 3,000 swab samples daily. As a result, the citizens should understand the workload upon the health machinery. The AMC helpline is also receiving calls from citizens who had not received the certificates. We will ensure that each one of them would get the certificate as soon as possible."