Nurses on mass leave, contractual staff hold the fort
Mukesh Tandon
Tribune News Service
Sonepat, August 7
The nursing staff of Bhagat Phool Singh Government Medical College (BPSGMC) for Women at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat districtrict on Wednesday went on a mass casual leave for one day and staged a dharna near the administrative building of the college in support of their demands.
As many as 275 regular nursing staff members, led by president Sharmila Dahiya and vice-president Anil Nain, under the banner of BPSGMC Nurses Welfare Association, staged a protest and the protesting staff members warned that if their demands are not met, they would go on an indefinite strike from Thursday.
Meanwhile, healthcare services were badly hit at the medical college due to the strike. On an average, 2,500 patients reach the OPDs here everyday. Now, only 41 nursing staff members, including 18 of the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam and 23 on probation, are working in the 700-bed hospital to take care of patients. Apart from this, the workload on around 120 interns, PG students and final-year students, has been increased.
Sources in the hospital said the head of the departments were discharging patients, refusing to admit new patients and referring some patients to other higher institutes due to the strike.
An MBBS student, on the condition of anonymity, said as per the rules, the interns had to do duty for only eight hours a day, but due to the strike, they were forced to do work continuously for 24 to 30 hours.
An employee said the medical college had 700 beds and it was always filled to capacity, but in the absence of the nursing staff, several departmental heads had refused to admit new patients. Even, the number of patients in OPDs has also reduced, he said.
Even the wards which were flooded with patients are lying empty these days, he said.
Anil Nain, vice-president, BPSGMC Nurses Welfare Association, said, “We have been protesting for a long time for our demands. The main demands of the nurses in the medical college are that the nursing allowance should be increased from Rs 1,200 to Rs 7,200.
The other main demand is to change the group classification of the nursing cadre from Group-C to Group-B on the lines of the Centre, AIIMS and PGIMER.
Nain further said that if the government did not fulfill their demands, they would go on an indefinite strike from August 8.
Dr JC Dureja, Director, BPS Medical College, claimed that there had been no big effect upon the health services due to the strike of nursing staff, as our interns, PG students and other staff members were on duty. “OPDs, operation theaters and laboratories are running smoothly so far,” he claimed.
Interns, PG students too on toes
- On an average, 2,500 patients reach the OPDs here everyday.
- Amid the strike, only 41 nurses, including 18 of the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam and 23 on probation, are working at the 700-bed hospital.
- Apart from this, the workload on around 120 interns, PG students and final-year students has also increased.
- An MBBS student, on the condition of anonymity, said as per rules, interns had to work for only eight hours a day, but due to the strike, they were forced to work for 24 to 30 hours at a stretch.
