Pune: As the Covid-19 patient count in the city came down, the authorities in Pune Municipal Corporation and private agencies that run the Shivajinagar jumbo hospital set up at the COEP grounds also heaved a sigh of relief. However, that has not augured well for the contractual staff as the agency has sacked about 30 employees after the government failed to clear its dues in time.
Operating the jumbo hospital facility has become a challenge now. As the patient count is coming down, hospitals are in loss and the government authorities have made it clear that the minimum amounts will be sanctioned and cleared as mentioned in the Expression of Interest.
Bills of other infrastructure related work agencies have been cleared but the bills of a medical agency are yet to be paid. Official’s at Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) have sought funds from other agencies for clearing the pending bills.
District Collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh told media persons, “We had received Rs 50 crore which are already disbursed for payments. When the next round of funds are received, the pending payments will be cleared.”