Over 300 Hindu Rao nurses, paramedic staff go on strike

New Delhi: Over 300 employees of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Hindu Rao Hospital – including nurses, paramedical staff and clerks – went on a “pen down strike” on Friday demanding pending salaries of the last three months. Resident doctors also said they were upset as their salaries had not arrived even for the month of October, and that they could also “stop work” soon.

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The doctors said they were yet to give a notice to the hospital administration regarding their plans, but that they will do it by Monday. At least 450 junior and senior doctors of the hospital, which is located on the northern ridge on Malka Ganj Road, had gone on a strike in May last year for pending salaries.

This had caused major inconvenience to patients and had piled up over 50-60 surgeries, as the hospital is one of the largest in north Delhi and caters to over 2,000 patients a day.

Tejinder Singh from the paramedical staff union of the hospital said, “We have three unions affiliated to various political parties/ideologies but all have come together today. Our salaries are always due for two to three months at a time and our arrears since the seventh pay commission have also not been given. Bonuses are also due for 1.5 years. We are fed up with this.”

Suresh Chand, Health Employees Welfare Association, said, “This problem has been going on for four years now, ever since the Aam Aadmi Party formed the Delhi government and then the Bharatiya Janata Party got hold over the municipalities. We are suffering because of their political and financial tussle.”

A senior north corporation official who did wish to be named said, “We are yet to get any representation from these unions. We will be able to comment on the situation only after that.”