Even though no fresh case of Plague has been detected anywhere in Maharashtra since 1994, the state government has decided to temporarily extend the services of 17 labourers engaged in detecting rats carrying the infected fleas.
In a Government Resolution (GR) issued on October 13, the Public Health Department has decided to grant further extension of three months till December 31, 2017 to these 17 labourers falling under the head of three posts.
These labourers are part of what is called as Plague Control Squads (PCS).
The GR said since there is no administrative structure assigned to these three posts, the Finance department every time gives three-month extension to the services of these employees.
"Depending upon the need of their services these labourers are given further extension in service. These labourers are posted under the administrative control of Joint Director, Public Health Services (Malaria, Filaria, Water Borne Diseases), Pune," Health department secretary Sharad Londhe said.
"Of these 17 labourers, of whom just one is permanent, the rest 16 are temporary workers. The job profile of these labourers is to carry out routine surveys and take samples of rats for possible fleas that carry Plague bacteria," he said.
Long after the detection of patients suffering from Plague in 1953, the state government had closed down the PCS in 1987.
However, the government revived the PCS in October 1994 after detection of 634 positive blood samples in Mamla village in Beed district August-September 1994.
The 1994 bubonic and pneumonic Plague epidemic had struck Surat in Gujarat, Maharashtra and some parts in Karnataka.
Since then the PCS has been conducting routine surveys in Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Pune, Satara and Solapur districts of Maharashtra.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
