Updated: December 15, 2020 6:21:24 pm
Members of the AIIMS Nurses Union raise slogans during their indefinite strike in New Delhi (Photo PTI / Atul Yadav) (PTI15-12-2020_000098A)
Around 5,000 AIIMS nurses have been in indefinite strike since Monday late in support of a number of lawsuits, including the lack of clarity of his salary structure under the Sixth Pay Commission. Despite requests from the administration to continue working in light of the Covid-19 situation, nurses have refused to budge.
What are your demands regarding salary?
In a letter to the Director of AIIMS dated November 13, the nurses have cited 23 unsolved lawsuits. The main one is the demand to address the anomaly of the Sixth Committee on Payments regarding their salaries. The nurses said their salary was set at Rs 18,460 per month, but they receive Rs 17,140. They said that their demand is not a salary increase, but that they be paid what is mentioned in the Sixth Payment Commission. They had written to the administration last month, stating that they would go on an indefinite strike if the problems were not resolved soon.
What are your other demands?
Nurses also protest against the gender reservation in AIIMS that requires 80 percent of the nursing staff to be female. Nurses say the quota is leaving many skilled men unemployed. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
His other demands are related to the pension scheme, restructuring of staff, remuneration for qualification and modifications in the job description, among others.
The hospital has also decided to outsource contract nurses, further enraging the nurses. The nurses said previous candidates had to pass an entrance test to be recruited. Hiring contract nurses, they say, will have an adverse impact on the superior quality of medical care provided by AIIMS.
What has the director of AIIMS asked the nurses?
In a video message to the nursing union on Monday, AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria called on all nurses not to go on strike during the pandemic.
“The nurses union has filed 23 lawsuits and almost all of the lawsuits have been satisfied by the AIIMS administration and the government. There is a lawsuit on which they have insisted and it is basically a perceived anomaly in the setting of the remuneration, with regard to the 6th CPC. However, it seems inappropriate that when the country is fighting a pandemic and we are fighting for our loved ones and close ones to save lives and we know that we have to work a few more months, and the vaccine can give a solution, unfortunately, at this time, the nurses union has gone on strike, ”said Dr. Guleria.
.
