Coal India engages retired doctors to combat Covid-19

State-run Coal India has engaged its retired doctors to meet the shortage of medical staff at its hospitals to fight COVID-19 pandemic.

Coal India arm Central Coalfields Ltd has engaged seven retired doctors while Northern Coalfields Ltd and Western Coalfields Ltd have engaged two physicians each, an official told PTI.

Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Bharat Coking Coal Ltd have hired one retired doctor each, the official added.

Coal India had recently issued guidelines to engage retired doctors and paramedical staff on temporary contract basis in its fight against the pandemic, which has spread to almost every state in the country.

"Keeping in view of the shortage of doctors and paramedical staff in the hospitals/ dispensaries of CIL/subsidiaries and need to prepare well to prevent/address the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19), the PSU had recently issues guidelines for engagement of retired doctors and paramedical staff of CIL/ Subsidiaries on temporary contract basis," the official said.

These guidelines will be effective for three months only, the official said.

Presently, 839 doctors are working in Coal India which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. Coal India subsidiaries have set up 1,509 isolation beds in eight states.

The eight coal bearing states are Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Assam.

Besides, Coal India arm MCL will also fund a COVID-19 hospital, having 500 beds and 25 intensive care units, in the capital city of Odisha. The hospital was recently inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

CIL subsidiaries have also distributed more than 3.3 lakh face masks to the people in and around coal mines.

The PSU has developed a sanitising chamber for disinfecting its mine workers. The maharatna firm had earlier pledged Rs 220 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM CARES) Fund.