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Paramedical, nursing staff stage protest in Amritsar, demand job regularisation
Protesters say they aren’t getting salaries on time, suspend Covid-related duties at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Government Medical College and Hospital
Paramedical and nursing staff at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) staged a protest against the state government on Friday.
The protesters demanded regularisation of jobs, timely payment of salaries and the release of dearness allowance instalments.
Around 11.30am, around 100 protestors gathered outside the outpatient department (OPD) of GNDH and raised slogans against the state government. The protest lasted two-hours, during which the protesters suspended all Covid-related duties.
Punjab Nursing Association’s Amritsar edition president Narinder Bhuttar said, “Trade unions across the country had called a nationwide protest against the planned dilution of labour laws in several states and the treatment of workers during the Covid-19 outbreak. Joining the protest, members of the Punjab Nursing Association and paramedical staff boycotted their duties and staged a protest at GNDH.”
“Since the Covid-19 outbreak, nurses and paramedical staff have been risking their lives to treat patients but the state government is not issuing our salaries on time nor are they regularising the jobs of contractual workers,” he said.
A member of the Amritsar Nursing Union, Veena Kumari, said, “The newly recruited nurses and paramedical staff, who are only being paid Rs 10,000 per month, should get their whole salary.”
PROVIDE PENSIONS, SAYS NURSING UNION
“The government is not providing pensions to medical staff who have been recruited after 2004. Since they are also dealing with Covid-19 patients, the government should formulate new policies to promote and motivate medical staff. The government should provide them pensions so that the staff does not have to worry about money in case they get infected.”
Bhuttar said, “The government of India had asked all state governments to change the nomenclature of nursing personnel. In every other state, staff nurses are designated as nursing officers but the Punjab government has not implemented the Centre’s orders, which should be implemented on priority.”
