Pay staff salaries or hand over hospitals, Delhi govt tells MCDs

Resident doctors at Hindu Rao hospitals are demanding unpaid salaries for three months and timely release of wages every month.

The Delhi government on Monday asked the three municipal corporations (MCDs) to immediately pay salaries to doctors and other health care workers in their hospitals or hand over these facilities to the city administration.

Resident doctors and nurses of Hindu Rao Hospital continue to protest against Delhi Government and MCD alleging salary non-payment over the last few months, in New Delhi.(Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

Taking cognisance of complaints from doctors of hospitals run by municipal corporations (MCDs) about not receiving salaries for months, Delhi urban development minister Satyendar Jain on Monday asked his department to issue letters to all the three MCDs, asking them to clear the dues of health care workers and supporting staff at north Delhi’s Hindu Rao and Kasturba hospitals.

Resident doctors at Hindu Rao hospitals are demanding unpaid salaries for three months and timely release of wages every month.

The urban development department then sent letters to the commissioners of the north, east and south Delhi municipal corporations, asking them to do the needful or hand over the hospitals to the AAP government.

“Resident doctor associations of the above-mentioned hospitals have threatened to go on strike if their dues are not cleared on time and MCD failed to meet the deadlines for paying them on time. The above-said situation has led to inconvenience and improper treatment to Covid-19 patients and it has forced the Delhi government to shift Covid-19 patients from Hindu Rao Hospital to Lok Nayak hospital of the Delhi government for a continuum of medical care…,” read the note signed by Jain, which was sent to the state urban development department.

The note said “it is evident that MCD is finding difficulty in proper running and management of their hospitals, which has led to anguish among doctors and paramedical staff, apart from causing inconvenience to patients relatives/citizens of Delhi during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and treatment of non-Covid ailments.”

The minister further wrote that if the MCDs are finding it difficult to pay salaries and to run the hospitals, the three MCD commissioners should be asked to hand over all the hospitals to the Delhi government. He sought an action taken report from the urban development department in the matter.

After this, the department’s ‘local bodies’ wing sent letters to the three MCD commissioners, saying that “serious concerns” have been raised regarding non-payment of salaries, wages and other dues to the medical, paramedical and other staff of Hindu Rao , Kasturba and other MCD hospitals.

“...it is worth mentioning that under the extant recommendations of the 5th Delhi Finance Commission, the first and second instalments of basic tax assignment by UD department and grant-in-aid by health and education departments have already been released to the MCDs by Delhi government for financial year 2020-21. Apart from these released amounts, MCDs are having their own sources of revenue generation and thus have to ensure sufficient provisioning of funds to pay the salaries of the front line health workers in MCD hospitals during Covid pandemic,” the letter read.

The letter said the MCDs should “expeditiously” clear all payments and submit a report to the department. “If DMCs are unable to pay salaries and facing difficulties in running their hospitals, they may consider handing over their hospitals to the Delhi government to avoid any further anguish to medical, paramedical and other staff and inconveniences to patients/relatives/citizens of Delhi during ongoing Covid pandemic,” the letter read.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, a councillor in the north Delhi municipal corporation, said, “The corporations are facing a financial problem and are unable to pay salaries as the Delhi government is not releasing funds. The government reduced our funds by nearly 58% due to Covid. The corporations have done a lot of work during Covid. We can run the hospitals provided the government clears the dues. As far as not paying salaries to our employees is concerned, the government too is not able to pay salaries to guest teachers, professors, doctors, etc.”