COVID-19: Nurses at Jumbo Covid Centre go on strike, demand proper food & accommodation

About 200 nurses from the Nesco Jumbo Covid Center in Goregaon, Mumbai, went on strike on Sunday. The nurses had called a strike because of poor quality of food and inconvenience. All the nurses have resumed work at 3 pm after the manager of Covid Center agreed to all the demands of the nurses with a written guarantee.

All the nurses had gathered on Sunday outside Nesco’s Covid Center and protested against the administration. The nurses protested their living conditions at the Covid Center was being neglected and that they were facing many difficulties. The nurses working at the Nesco Covid Center have been living in the nearby Mhada colony for the past year. It was then decided to move them to a school in Dindoshi. The nurses have expressed displeasure over this issue. The nurses had complained that they were not able to stay and eat in the Dindoshi area. They have also been complaining about being cramped in smaller buses that take them home from the Covid centres.

“Doctors are put up in hotels. We are not demanding that, but we have right to a good accommodation too,” she said, adding that at least 10 have contracted Covid in the recent times. Another added that nurses have been complaining about the lack of high-protein food.

Eventually around 200 nurse decided on Sunday to go on strike. So the corona patients at the Nesco Center faced inconvenience for a few hours. The nurses have resumed work after the Nesco center manager finally agreed to all the demands in writing. The nurses working at the Jumbo Covid Center in Goregaon have come to Mumbai from all over Maharashtra for work. Many nurses have come from Dhule, Ratnagiri, Nandurbar, Beed and Ahmednagar districts.

Dean Dr Neelam Andrade said that matters of food and lodging are looked after by the local ward official. “However, we will look into their problems and fix them,” she said.