NALGONDA: As many as 1.1 lakh outsourcing employees working in various government hospitals under the state’s Medical and Health Department are facing a grim Dasara festival, with no salaries paid for the last five months. To demand the immediate release of their pending wages, a massive protest was organised on Tuesday in front of government hospitals across the state and at the Medical and Health Department headquarters in Koti.
A government hospital outsourcing employee from Nalgonda, speaking anonymously, said “Employees in some sections like HIV receive annual increments of up to Rs 2,500, many of us are stuck with a fixed salary and no increments at all.”
Durgham Srinivas, the state president of the Telangana Medical and Health Contract Employees Trade Union, informed the media that some outsourcing agencies deduct Provident Fund contributions from salaries but fail to deposit them with the relevant department.
He noted that the government has not addressed these complaints despite repeated appeals. Srinivas said that a prior notice was given to the authorities on September 13 about the planned protest but with no response, the dharna proceeded.
He further pointed out that the Congress party’s manifesto had promised to abolish outsourcing agencies and establish a corporation to manage employees, but that promise has not yet been fulfilled.