TIRUCHY: Nearly 300 contract workers at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), who clean wards, handle hospital waste and assist patients, continue to work without basic amenities like dedicated toilets and spaces to eat, bathe, change clothes or rest. Around 90% of them are women, and many have served the hospital for over a decade.
Earning between Rs 14,000 and Rs 20,000 a month, the workers serve in three shifts, some extending over nine hours. Their duties include cleaning wards, handling hospital waste, shifting patients to diagnostic facilities and transporting files between departments.
"We have been working here for years, but there is still no proper place to sit and eat. Even changing clothes is difficult because there is no separate room," said a 45-year-old worker employed at the hospital for around 10 years.
"A waste collection worker said the absence of bathing facilities made it difficult to clean herself after work. "We handle waste and clean the hospital, but there is no place to bathe or change before leaving. We also need adequate gloves and footwear," she said.
Another worker said they had to use toilets meant for patients. A woman raising her family without a husband said the absence of resting and changing spaces added to the difficulties of managing long shifts. Two other workers feared losing their jobs if they raised complaints.
R Rajendran, state organising secretary of the Tamil Nadu Government Hospital Auxiliary Workers Union, said the problem extended across Tamil Nadu. The union had repeatedly urged hospital administrations to make basic facilities mandatory in contracts with service providers.
"Adequate space is unavailable even at MGMGH. A facility existing in name is not enough, workers need a dedicated place to change and attend to their basic needs," he said.
MGMGH officials said they planned to identify space for contract workers and other support staff, including 108 ambulance drivers and helpers, after the new building being constructed is inaugurated. Spaces vacated by shifting existing facilities could be allotted for dining, changing and washing before workers leave the hospital.