NEW DELHI: Unpaid for three months, the nurses of the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in north Delhi have started an agitation from Monday onwards, for two hours every day. The hospital which falls under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has got 138 nursing staff— with 30 of them working on contract while 108 are permanent employees.
“The salary issue began six years ago. In the tussle between BJP and AAP, the employees are the worst affected. The administration does not care for us. Our salaries for the month of June, July and August are pending and therefore we decided to go for the agitation. Apart from emergency services, we won’t perform our duties from 10 am to 12 pm,” said Babu Lal Sharma, the Nursing Union president.
This is not the first time that the staff have to demand for timely payment of their dues. The staff had protested against the delay in salary a few months ago also. “Last time, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the administration had given us a month’s salary and we were told to join back duty. The doctors also faced the same situation, but they could approach the high court and get their dues... we cannot afford to go to court,” he added.
The MCD staff have been facing the issue of timely payment of salary for a long time now. The doctors from the Hindu Rao Hospital and Kasturba Gandhi have been frequently raising the matter.
“The MCDs have ruined our lives, our families...they don’t have the slightest knowledge how the staff are living. The top staff are in a comfortable position and they don’t care about us,” noted Babulal.