Bhopal Police Brutally Lathicharge COVID-19 Health Workers Protesting Against Being Laid Off From Work

Over 500 COVID-19 health workers were lathicharged by the police in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The health workers were protesting against being laid off from work. The health workers had been protesting at the Neelam Park for the past three days against the government’s decision to remove them from jobs, assigned three months ago. Reportedly, the MP government had hired 6,213 health workers on a temporary basis, when the COVID-19 crisis had escalated. Their three-month term ended on November 30, and half of them were laid-off, Dainik Bhaskar reported. The protesters demand that the Madhya Pradesh government should reinstate them. On December 3, the Bhopal police asked the protesters to vacate the area in accordance with the norms. After the protesters did not vacate, the police was reportedly compelled to use baton charge on the protesting COVID-19 health workers. The video, which has now gone viral shows the protesters being lathicharged by the police. Reports suggest that a number of protesters who did not budge and demanded Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to meet them were briefly detained.