Beed, Jun 18 (PTI) Police used baton-charge here on Friday to disperse a group of protesting healthcare workers including nurses who tried to stop the convoy of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to present him their demands including permanent employment.

The protesters were hired on contractual basis at government hospitals after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them lost the job after the contract expired.

Pawar, along with District Guardian Minister Dhananjay Munde, Health Minister Rajesh Tope and local MLAs attended a review meeting on COVID-19 situation as well as preparations for the Kharif season at Beed Collector's office.

As Pawar was leaving afterwards, the protesters tried to stop his car.

The police used mild baton-charge to disperse them and detained more than 100 persons, said an official.

"We wanted to submit a memorandum to Pawar and Tope but they did not stop," said one protester.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)