Contractual staff boycott work for 2 hrs

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 2

Annoyed over the non-regularisation of their jobs even after six years of service, contractual nurses and ancillary staff working at Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital and Government TB Hospital boycotted work for two hours and held a protest march on the hospital campus.

Demanding regularisation of their services, the contractual employees gathered outside the hospital OPD and held a protest march and declared to continue the protest till January 18, since they have a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in this regard on January 18.

Notably, there are about 625 contractual staff against the regular staff of about 35 only. These nurses have been demanding regularisation of their jobs since they were only getting Rs 7,500 to Rs 12,225 with Rs 1,000 annual increment against the regular staffers who were drawing a salary of over Rs 50,000.

Till last year, the number of such employees was about 1,200 but about 250 of them were transferred to Amritsar and the remaining quit the jobs due to poor salary.

The president of the Nursing and Ancillary Contractual Staff Union, Karamjeet Kaur Aulakh, claimed that their repeated requests to regularise their jobs had been falling on the deaf ears of the government and all they had been getting were assurances.

She said: “While we are made to slog day and night for merely Rs 7,500, our counterparts who are just passing orders and maintaining certain records are drawing a salary of over Rs 50,000. How does the government justify this bias?”

Meanwhile, Satinderpal Singh, Senior Vice-President, said: “If the government does not hear our genuine plea, we will be left with no other option but to boycott the work completely. So in case of any damage to life in our absence, the hospital will be only responsible,” he said.