Shimla hospital staff to go on pen-down strike from today

Shimla, September 1

Upset over the non-fulfillment of their key demand of a regular pay-scale, the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) employees in Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC) has decided to go on a full-day pen-down strike from September 2.

The RKS employees have been demanding regular pay-scale for those who have completed eight years of service. Fifty-five employees were on the pen-down strike from 8 am till 2 pm.

The RKS employees work as data entry operators in IT section, dark room assistants, lab assistants and Class IV employees at IGMC.

RKS Union president Arvind Pal said, “We have been on a pen-down strike for the past few days and still have not received any response regarding our demands. We had earlier warned the government that we will go on an indefinite full-day strike from Monday if our demands are not met. We will continue this strike until we get in writing that our demands will be fulfilled.” Pal said as per the policy, the employees were to be provided regular pay-scale after eight years of service. However, even after completing eight years of service in December 2021, the RKS employees in IGMC are yet to receive the regular pay-scale which is very disappointing, he added.

Pal said despite receiving multiple assurances from the government, no action was being taken to fulfil their demand.

He said it was beyond their understanding that why the RKS employees in IGMC were not getting the regular pay-scale, when 11 employees in Dr Rajindra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda and nine in Dr YS Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan, were being given the regular pay-scale.

He said the RKS employees were during their duty with full dedication and honesty, but depriving them of their rights is affect their morale.

Meanwhile, patients visiting IGMC have been facing a lot of inconvenience due to this ongoing strike. They have to wait in long queues for hours to get treatment. With the RKS employees announcing full-day strike, the problems faced by the patients are likely to get compounded in the coming days.