LUCKNOW: Congress leader and the party's general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday urged the Uttar Pradesh government not to cut salaries of the medical staff who are looking after the patients during the dangerous coronavirus phase and to provide them with personal safety equipment.

Vadra's tweet had a video of unidentified medical personnel from Banda district , who alleged that staff was not being provided equipment and their salaries were being cut by the hospital administration. The medical staff went on to add that they were also sacked by the hospital when they complained.

"At this moment it is very important to support our medical staff. They are lifegivers and are in the field like warriors. A great injustice is being meted out to nurses and medical staff by cutting their salaries and not providing them with personal protection equipment. My appeal to the UP government is that this is not the time to do injustice to these warriors but to hear their woes," Vadra's tweet read.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday rose to 174, including 2 deaths, while 19 patients have been cured and discharged, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare .

