Nursing staff at north MCD hospitals go on strike over pending salaries

Nursing staff of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run Kasturba, Hindu Rao, Girdharilal Maternity and Rajan Babu TB hospitals on Monday begun an indefinite strike against the non-payment of their salaries for the past three-four months.

Nursing staff of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run Kasturba, Hindu Rao, Girdharilal Maternity and Rajan Babu TB hospitals on Monday begun an indefinite strike against the non-payment of their salaries for the past three-four months.

A nursing staff member of Hindu Rao Hospital hold a placard during the protest on Monday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

At Kasturba and Hindu Rao hospitals, OPD services, and registration and admission of new patients were hit due to strike. The hospital administration, however, said emergency services remained unaffected.

Demanding pending salaries at the earliest, the employees threatened to completely stop all emergency services.

“Today (Monday), we had a meeting with the north corporation mayor. He said our salaries will be paid by Diwali. But these are false promises and our strike will continue until salaries are credited in our accounts,” BL Sharma, president of the Kasturba Hospital Nurses’ Union, said.

There are nearly 200 nursing and paramedical employees at Kasturba and nearly 70 at Girdharilal Maternity Hospital. At Hindu Rao, the number of such staff is around 350 and 180 at Rajan Babu TB Hospital.

Nurses of north MCD hospitals have not been paid the salaries of August, September and October while other paramedic employees have not got wages since June this year.

Doctors at Kasturba and Hindu Rao hospitals said OPD services and the registration of new patients were affected. No new patient was admitted on Monday.

“In the morning, patients had to go to other hospitals. Some new patients were referred to Lady Hardinge hospital. Emergency services were not stopped completely as we managed with the help of contractual workers. But if this continues, problems may increase,” a doctor at Kasturba Hospital said on condition of anonymity.

North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash said he was in touch with the employees. “I assured them that we are trying to get their at least two months’ salaries disbursed till Diwali. I requested them to call off the strike,” Prakash said.

Primary teachers of north MCD schools also staged a protest near Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi chief Adesh Gupta’s residence in Patel Nagar to demand payment of salaries for the past four months. They plan a protest at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Tuesday.

“Our salaries for July, August, September and October are pending. It is now impossible to work without money. BJP is in power at the civic bodies and so we staged a protest at the Delhi BJP chief’s residence. He assured us of clearing two salaries in a fortnight,” Kuldeep Khatri, president Shikshak Nyay Manch Nagar Nigam, said.

Delhi BJP chief, Gupta said, “Two out of four pending salaries of teachers will be disbursed before Diwali. The remaining will be paid after that,” Gupta said.

Earlier in June, north corporation school teachers had staged a symbolic strike over pending salaries. They called off their stir after the civic body paid a month’s salary after the court’s intervention.

Similarly, doctors of north MCD-run hospitals called off their strike last month after the civic body cleared their dues till September 2020.

Salaries of paramedic and nursing staff were, however, paid till June 2020 and July 2020, respectively, which annoyed the workers and they went on strike.