185 Manipur nurses who quit jobs from Kolkata hospitals due to lack of PPEs return home

Amid the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), 185 Manipur nurses who have quit their jobs from Kolkata hospitals, have returned to Imphal on Wednesday. Speaking to ANI, one such nurse - Cristella stated that they were not happy to leave their duties. She said that the nurses faced racism and a lack of PPEs.

Kolkata hospitals in a spot as nurses quit jobs, leave city amid COVID-19 crisis

Manipur nurses return home

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Manipur govt denies advisory

Confirming that the quitting nurses were acting on their own accord, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh stated that the govt had not issued any advisory asking healthcare workers (HCWs) of Manipur working in other states to return. As per reports, 500 HCWs from Manipur have quit from private hospitals across Kolkata and several other states like Odisha, Jharkhand, and Tripura. Despite this mass exodus, several nurses have reportedly stayed back, working in vulnerable COVID-19 wards.

“There is no advisory or instruction from the government of Manipur to any HCW working outside the state to return home. We feel proud that they are at the frontline of any state of the nation fighting Covid-19 and saving precious lives across the country. But if some of them do not feel comfortable at their workplaces, we cannot force them to stay back," said Biren.

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Nurses quit jobs in Kolkata

Due to the sudden quitting of 300 nurses quit their jobs at private hospitals in Kolkata, the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI), a non-statutory body with 17 private medical facilities in Kolkata as members, has written to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha seeking his intervention in resolving the crisis. In his letter, Pradeep Lal Mehta, the president of the AHEI, said, "Although the exact reason why they are leaving is not known, we have found out from other nurses still on duty that the state government of Manipur is offering them a lucrative stipend to return home". Meanwhile, sources in the health department said the government has sought information on nurses, including their place of origin, from different hospitals like RN Tagore Hospital, Medica, IRIS Multispeciality Hospital, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals Limited, AMRI hospital, Fortis Healthcare Limited, Charnock Hospital and Belle Vue.

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