Sikkim Directs Pharma Employees to Join Duty amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Gangtok, March 31, 2020:

All the employees working with the pharmaceutical companies in East Sikkim district have been directed to join their duties at the earliest as they are engaged with the production of essential medicines and equipment.

East Sikkim District Collector, Raj Yadav has appealed to all the pharmaceutical employees "to join their duty willingly...Pharmaceutical companies are engaged in the production of essential medicines and medical equipment and they have been taking care of the hygiene of their employees as per instructions of the Government."

This appeal has come two days after as many as 1,500 workers of Sikkim’s well-known pharmaceutical company, Sun Pharma, demanded holiday after their fellow worker, who returned from Bihar, showed signs of sickness.

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According to reports, the Sun Pharma employees had raised their voices against the management for calling the said worker to work even after he informed that the doctors had advised him to go into 14 days self quarantine since he had just returned from Bihar.

The employees staged a protest demanding 14 days off for their own health safety amid the dreaded coronavirus, which has fast expanded its footprint across the country.

The appeal by the District Collector of East Sikkim further reads, "...in order to mitigate the hardship of workers, the Government of Sikkim has advised all the pharmaceutical units operating in the state to provide an additional incentive wages of Rs. 300/- per day to all the workers who report for work during lockdown period."

The appeal also stated that if the workers remain absent from their duties or "if they are not permitted to join their work, then appropriate action under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 shall be taken."

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It may be mentioned here that the Sun Pharma case had drawn the attention of the authorities and also the ire of the ones working in the medicine sector. The incident had raised many questions on the safety and security of the employees amid a pandemic.

It may be mentioned here that India is in lockdown following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 in the country. It has reported 1,251 positive cases of COVID-19 as on Tuesday. 35 people have died so far due to the disease.

Internationally, 785,807 people have been affected by the virus and 37,850 fatalities have been recorded with US having the highest number of cases.

In India, there have been reports of a shortage in supply of the essential protective items in the market such as the face masks, hand sanitizers. Health department is considering at preventive equipment since no vaccine to beat the coronavirus has been discovered till now.

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