NEW DELHI: It was in January this year that Pratik Dahiya had joined the Delhi government-run Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital as a nursing staff. However, two days ago his service was abruptly terminated after the hospital administration ended his contract along with that of 41 others.
“On July 15, an hour before my duty was scheduled to be over, the chief medical officer called us and said that our contracts had been terminanted. There was no proper clarification as to why we were sacked,” Dahiya said. The nurses who were sacked were appointed by the hospital administration through an agency named Avani Paridhi — a human resource management company.
“Upon repeated questioning by us, the hospital told us that the agency was blacklisted by the government and hence they cannot retain us anymore. We tried calling our agents but their phones were switched off. All of us had to pay this agency a registration fee to get the job at the hospital,” Dahiya stated. Another staffer, Rohit, who also lost his job said that their salaries were paid via the agency and not directly paid by the hospital administration.
“We now came to know that our salaries was much higher than what we have been receiving. The agency, acting as the middleman, deducted some amount and handed over the rest to us. The issue is that even if something happened between the agency and the hospital it is us who are suffering. Without any prior notice, how can they fire us,” he mentioned.
Dahiya noted that some of his colleagues who were fired along with him were temporarily transferred for duty at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital’s Covid ward earlier but did not receive any salary for the same. Despite repeated attempts, the hospital’s chief medical officer did not repsond for any clarification regarding the matter.
Nurses paid via agency
The nurses who were sacked said they were paid salaries via the human resources management agency and were not directly paid by the hospital administration.