The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Sector 36, a premier forensic laboratory of the country, has urged the UT administration to provide Covid-19 vaccination to its staff members of every age group. The development came after the director and senior scientists at the laboratory tested positive for the virus over the last five days. The laboratory receives thousands of samples of high profile cases, including sexual assault, terrorist attacks, narcotics, audio/ video samples, DNA samples etc from across the country. Sources said the CFSL director urged the local administration to consider the laboratory staffers as frontline workers as they are involved in the forensic examination of samples coming from far reaching places. The officials who tested positive include Assistant Director Dr T Joshi, senior scientist C Ramchandra and Director SK Jain. Sources said the scientists and other laboratory workers are exposed to the virus as they attend court hearings in the connection with the criminal trails of sensitive cases at various courts. CFSL Director Dr SK Jain said, "I urged the administration to provide vaccination to the employees of every age group. Some of our scientists, who are above 45 years, received their jabs, but the young ones yet to receive. Although we are following precautions, including wearing PPE kits while examining samples, we are still vulnerable. We have a manpower of around 87 staff members, including 40 contractual young employees.”
