KOCHI: In a move that could hold up the implementation of the revised wages for nurses in the state, the Kerala Private Hospitals’ Association (KPHA) has decided to move the court against the minimum wages’ notification issued by the state government.
“We have conveyed to the government it will not be possible to implement the new wage structure which will increase our cost of operations manifold. We won’t be able to deal with such a heavy financial burden on hospitals. The treatment costs will have to be hiked around 50-60 per cent to meet this. Giving the salary with retrospective effect is out of the question. Salary is to be given with retrospective effect only if the last notification was five years before, which it won’t be till November this year,” said KPHA president Dr Muhammed Rashid.
The KPHA, which convened here on Thursday to discuss the notification, said smaller hospitals with less than 100 beds are the ones who will be affected the most. “The nurses’ association has demanded we pay all the amount in arrears along with the salary of May, which is definitely not possible,” said Rashid.
The United Nurses’ Association (UNA) filed a petition in the High Court to plug the loopholes in the notification.
“The allowances have been cut down. DA is taken away and the nursing special allowance too scrapped. The health sector is different to the other sectors with minimum wages which the Minimum Wages Committee has failed to understand when these allowances were taken away. We hope to address all these with the petition,” said UNA president Jasmin Sha.