Pune, Apr 20 (PTI) The Pune Zilla Parishad employees have contributed their one day's salary to raise Rs 1.97 crore to help improve the health services in rural areas of the district amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said.

The money would be given as an incentive to doctors serving the COVID-19 patients, in addition to their salaries, Pune Zilla Parishad CEO Ayush Prasad told PTI on Monday.

"The Zilla Parishad employees here in Maharashtra, all of whom are frontline workers, have contributed one day's salary to raise Rs 1.97 crore," he said.

The official said they have published advertisements in newspapers of various states to hire 130 doctors.

"We aim to have the best doctors with us in the fight against COVID-19 and save the lives of people living in rural areas of Pune," he said.

(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)