Following WHO norms on health workers’ safety, govt tells SC

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court that WHO guidelines for the safety of health workers were being followed in all cases, involving doctors, nurses and other health staff and sanitation workers, and that they were being equipped with PPEs, and their concerns addressed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta rejected the charge levelled in a PIL that too many sanitation workers were dying because of lack of access to personal protection equipment.

He assured the court on another PIL that the government will set up a separate helpline for nurses to address their complaints in two hours.


The petition on behalf of the nurses was filed by the United Nurses Association, seeking a national corona management protocol. Mehta assured the court that a dedicated helpline will be provided to nurses to redress all their complaints — whether it be PPEs, salary cut, eviction by home owners et al.

In another petition seeking to ensure the right to life of sanitation workers or ‘safai karamcharis’, the government denied the charge that too many sanitation workers were dying in the country.