Health workers under Covid-19 project stage sit-in at DGHS

Health workers appointed under a government Covid-19 response project staged a sit-in outside the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Mohakhali today, demanding the payment of overdue salaries and confirmation of their jobs.

The demonstrators, employed under the Covid-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness (ERPP) Project, began gathering around 10:00am.

By 1:00pm, roughly 50 protesters had joined the demonstration.

Speaking at a press conference during the protest, the health workers issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the DGHS authorities to respond to their demands or face intensified action.

"We've worked for five months without pay," said Shamim Shah, one of the protesters.

"Now we're being asked to stop reporting to work, without any job confirmation or explanation."

On April 27, over 300 health workers staged a sit-in to press home their demands .

In early 2020, the government hired 393 health workers under the ERPP project to reinforce healthcare services during the pandemic. As the crisis escalated, the workforce expanded to 1,154, including medical officers, nurses, and technologists. Until late May, 1,004 were still actively working under the project before DGHS reportedly instructed them to discontinue their duties, according to protesters.

An ERPP project official previously told The Daily Star that the health workers' salaries were funded through a World Bank grant, which ended in December last year. No payments have been made since.