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Chandigarh: Elective services hit as PGI contractual staff go on strike
Patients scheduled for procedures were informed of postponements and hospitals in Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were asked not to refer patients to PGIMER during the strike
PGIMER on Friday suspended all elective surgeries and new elective admissions amid the ongoing strike called by the near-3,500 contractual workers at, including over 1,600 hospital attendants, demanding the release of long-pending arrears.
Patients scheduled for procedures were informed of postponements and hospitals in Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were asked not to refer patients to PGIMER during the strike.
The Hospital Attendants’ Union had announced the decision to go on strike on Thursday. They were joined by the All Contract Workers Union, marking the sixth such strike in less than two years and third in 15 days under PGIMER director Dr Vivek Lal.
The hospital administration’s failure to pay the arrears, approved by the Contract Advisory Labour Board, the protesting workers said had forced them to call the strike.
The unions’ core demand is the release of unpaid arrears for hospital attendants, from the ₹46-crore budget approved by the Union ministry of health and family welfare in April. The budget had been earmarked to settle arrears for other contractual staff, including sanitary attendants, kitchen workers, and security guards. While the workers were paid through January 2024, hospital attendants were notably excluded from the payout, causing frustration and leading to the strike.
Union leaders had a few weeks ago warned the administration of potential action if the arrears were not settled by October 10.
OPD runs smoothly
Despite the disruptions, key services such as out-patient department (OPD) registration, emergency services and ICU operations ran smoothly with the hospital deploying regular staff and volunteers to offer assistance.
NSS volunteers, doctors and security personnel were assisting in managing patient care in the absence of hospital attendants, who play a crucial role in handling day-to-day activities.
All Contract Worker Union president Vikramjit Singh said, “We will continue our strike till our demands are met.”
PGIMER medical superintendent Vipin Koushal, meanwhile, said, “We are open to talks and not against our workers. The strike affects patients the most and why should they be put through so much trouble? This situation is uncalled for, and the contractual workers are violating the court’s orders.”
“The same issue of arrears is brought up and a strike is called. The arrears are due to only hospital attendants, and we sent the request to the health ministry in June and answered queries regarding the break-up of arrears, we are following protocols as per the ministry,” he added.
Koushal said the administration wanted to work on reconciliations with the joint action committee and has also written to the ministry for the arrears, adding, “All of us are trying to reach a common consensus. Once we have the order, we will disburse the amount, why would we not? As for the demand for similar wages of contractual workers, at par with regular staff, this is under the purview of the Health and Labour Ministry. We can only present our case and follow directions.”
With the OPD set to remain closed on Saturday (Dussehra), the PGI administration is working to seek the help of NGOs, the NSS students part of PGI’s Saarthi project, and moving regular workers to areas that need urgent attention, like the Emergency, Trauma.
Cleaning, sanitation, laundry, procuring medicine and materials from stores, moving patients with oxygen cylinders to different areas of the hospitals, opening different departments of the hospital, giving medicines to patients, sorting files and registration cards in OPDs, diet distribution are among the services being affected due to the strike.
