COVID-19: Facilitate Cashless Treatment For Delhi University Employees, Demands Teachers’ Association
COVID-19: Delhi University Teachers’ Association, or DUTA, has urged the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Yogesh Tyagi, to provide the employees with special financial assistance and medical benefits.
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association, or DUTA, in a letter to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Yogesh Tyagi, requested for financial assistance for its full time employees, ad hoc teachers, guest teachers and contractual employees. The financial support, or medical benefit, must be provided to assist in managing COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
The death of Prof. Wali Akhtar, who succumbed after being denied timely treatment at several leading hospitals, “exposes the utter unpreparedness of the system to deal with COVID-19 cases or with urgencies arising out of other ailments”, the DUTA’s letter said. The letter to the VC also said: “We urge you to explore all possible avenues to ensure that hospitals which are on the university panel are duty-bound not to turn away any patient and provide timely treatment.”
COVID-19 Expenses
To decrease the unnecessary chaos in hospitals, patients unable to pay the expenses can be transferred to government hospitals and the university must take “proactive steps to facilitate cashless treatment” to all employees and their dependent family members suffering from COVID-19 in all COVID-19 designated hospitals in Delhi NCR, added the DUTA statement.
It further added that full reimbursement must be provided for treatment of doctors of medical colleges and their dependents and medical institutions directly affiliated under Delhi University such as the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) and Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI).
Analysing the rising number of cases in Delhi NCR, DUTA, in the statement said: “The Teachers' Welfare Fund (TWF) of Delhi University, which has been lying unused for many years now, must be immediately activated to provide financial aid to Delhi University employees requiring treatment for Covid-19.”
TWF, the statement added, has the provision of providing 1.5 lakh rupees as medical assistance and upto 3 lakh rupees as medical hardship. “Keeping in mind the high costs involved in the treatment of COVID-19, the university should consider granting financial assistance over and above the stipulated amount”, it added.
As per the statement, the university can also consider periodic sanitation of residential colonies, hostels and revamping the World University Service, or WUS, Health Centre so that testing facilities are made available to the employees and their family members.
