It is indeed good that the J&K Administration headed by the Lieutenant Governor has approved the proposal of extending contractual engagement of Nursing and Paramedical personnel who were engaged to combat the Covid spike last year that was the most testing time for the governments and the people alike. The young force of qualified women and men was pressed into service to meet the alarming exigencies of Covid 19 pandemic and to assist the already existing but overburdened health infrastructure and also that was added specially in all the districts of union territory.
They fared well as they facilitated the health emergency services and were part of the frontline health warriors.
But subsequently, when the Covid spike flattened later, they were asked to pack up and relieved of their assignment on the expiry of their contractual term. They were rendered jobless again and their aspirations to have a stable service career the vagaries of uncertainty. The Administration may be legally correct and well within its rights to discontinue their contract as they were on contractual engagements. But it was ethically incorrect to disband the physical and human infrastructure in the most critical health sector as no Administrator can forecast what turn the pandemic curve would take. The foresight demanded that to strengthen the health infrastructure vitally in J&K, the men and material strength of the health service be ensured.
These nursing and paramedical personnel later protested on the streets accusing the administration of betrayal as they were used for meeting emergencies and then left to despair.
It is not only the doctors and nurses who are serving the infected patients but a lot of other medical staff also such as intensive care unit and coronary care unit technicians and scavengers are working together as a team. As the death toll was continuously rising, frontline health workers faced a dire risk of contracting the virus. Health-care professionals have been reported to be struggling with different issues such as continuous workload, extended shifts of work, overworked, burnout, threat of being evicted from their homes for fear of community spread, amidst the most fearful threat of getting infected while on their jobs.
Frontline health workers, thus, are the backbone of effective health systems and they play a critical role in providing health solutions. Without frontline health workers, there would be no health services for thousands of patients in the case of eventualities. Covid has not gone. Rather has been returning back with more vigor with its cousin force like Delta, Omicron etc. and probably would stay with us in future too. So, why not plan beforehand and absorb these nursing and paramedical youth in the public service appropriately? Frontline workers have been proven time and again as the central pillars of health, and there is abundant evidence that well-supported frontline health workers bring about essential improvements in health conditions especially during pandemics in countries, like the current COVID-19 situation.
