Tamil Nadu: PIL wants PPEs, masks for all police, jail personnel

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a PIL seeking to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPEs), face masks, gloves and sanitisers to police and jail personnel, including prisoners, to protect them from Covid-19 infection.
The petitioner, R Varaaki, also wanted the court to direct the government to take test such personnel for Covid-19 regularly.
Admitting the plea on Friday, a division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy directed the state to file a detailed reply in two weeks.
When the plea came up for hearing, government pleader V Jayaprakash Narayan submitted that the government is already providing such protective gear to all personnel of police force and prisons. Noting that not everyone in the departments are entitled to get PPE, other gear like face masks, gloves and sanitisers are being provided in adequate numbers, he added.
According to the petitioner, though police and prison authorities are working day and night to fight Covid-19, they are getting infected due to lack of adequate protection measures. Prisoners were also contracting Covid-19 infections, the plea said.