india

Updated: Apr 16, 2020 14:21 IST

Doctors, nurses and other medical staff in state-run hospitals in West Bengal will now get a week-long holiday every alternate week, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

Making another announcement she said that the state government will send small help, including monetary help, to migrant labourers, tourists and patients from Bengal who are stranded in other states because of the lockdown.

“The doctors, nurses and other medical staff are not getting any rest. Hence from now on they will work for one week and then a week long leave. This will boost their energy level. The chief secretary has been asked to speak with the state health department and work this out,” said Banerjee, who also holds the portfolio of state health minister.

The top brass of the police force have also been asked to see if the duty hours of police personnel could be curtailed by a few hours every day.

“We will try to send some money to migrant labourers from Bengal stuck in other states. Some tourists from Bengal and some who had gone for treatment have also been stranded. If we get information, we will try to help them through our local sources. We have also sent help to a team of tourists stranded at Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh,” she added.

Banerjee had earlier written letters to chief ministers of 18 states requesting them to help migrant labourers from Bengal stranded in those states. In West Bengal more than two lakh labourers from various states have been given shelter in more than 700 camps.

The chief minister also said that in some places doctors and nurses are being ostracized for treating Covid-19 patients.

“I have got at least eight such cases. At Ranaghat in Nadia locals had protested when a nurse went to meet her family. I have allotted the nurse a rented government flat she can stay there,” Banerjee added.