Bhopal, December 3: Over 500 COVID-19 health workers protesting against being laid off from work were lathicharged by the police. The incident was reported in Bhopal, the Madhya Pradesh capital, where demonstrators had gathered since the past three days to mark their against over being removed from the jobs assigned three months ago.

According to reports, 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. Healthcare Workers and Most Vulnerable to Get COVID-19 Vaccine First in Haryana.

Those who lost their jobs were holding demonstrations at the Neelam Park over the last three days. They demanded the Madhya Pradesh government to reinstate them. The Bhopal Police on Wednesday asked the protesters to vacate in accordance to 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 footage shared below shows them being lathicharged by the police.

Watch Video of Bhopal Police Lathicharge COVID-19 Health Workers

A number of protesters who did not budge and demanded Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to meet them were briefly detained, local media reports said. According to the demonstrators, they have sent their pleas to Ministers in the Chouhan-led government, seeking continuance of their jobs at the medical facilities.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 03, 2020 08:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).