NEW DELHI: On the third day of the strike by over 75,000 group C and D employees of Delhi government hospitals on Wednesday, patients were left fending for themselves. The worst hit were Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries with over 750 employees striking work in all 81 dispensaries.
Basic health services like X-ray, ward services, labs etc were badly affected in government hospitals. In some hospitals, emergency services were also affected. “Only emergency and labour room are functioning. We are managing the situation with the help of contractual staff,” said Dr Anjan Prakash, spokesperson and additional MS, Lok Nayak Hospital.
Health workers condemned the Delhi government’s decision to impose Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). “Our demands on anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission are genuine. Government has imposed ESMA only to silence us but we won’t back down. We want proper payscales according to our qualifications and nature of duties. The government should stop downsizing and stop hiring on contractual basis,” said VS Dahiya, secretary, National Public Health Alliance.
Amid the protest, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has worked out a contingency plan. “We are facing problem in all our hospitals, but we have diverted nursing staff and doctors to make up for the shortage in other hospitals,” said MCD commissioner KS Mehra.
Meanwhile, nursing staff of various hospitals continued their relay hunger strike on the ninth day. The nurses are also protesting against the anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission. “We want the government to address our demands at the earliest.
Even ESMA cant stop us from continuing our strike. We will go ahead with our plan of mass casual leave on March 3 and indefinite strike from March 5,” said Leela Dhar Ramchandani, spokesperson, Delhi Nursing Union.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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