Outsourced lab employees go on strike, Covid testing hit in Punjab

Patiala, October 20

The Covid testing in the state was affected after outsourced employees of VRDL labs in the state went on strike on Wednesday morning. Around 320 health professionals at seven Covid labs in the state staged dharna in front of the labs to mark their protest.

The protesters stopped testing Covid samples from 8 am to 12 noon. Consequently, the Covid reports were delayed across Punjab. Due to the strike, there was a pendency of around 30,000 samples.

A senior official at a VRDL lab said, “The strike has delayed the test reports. Each lab is testing around 7,000 to 8,000 samples daily.” The outsourced employees are demanding absorption into the Department of Medical Education. They said they had been working at the labs by risking their lives ever since the outbreak last year.

Gagandeep Singh, chief adviser, Punjab Corona Lab Union, said, “The government had assured us that we would be at least given contractual jobs in the medical department. However, the government has now backtracked from its promise.”

He said 55 data entry operators at three labs — Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Faridkot — had been sacked by the firm without giving any reason. — TNS