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Nurses in private hospitals claim that their subsidies have been reduced while nurses hired in government hospitals demand a better salary.
Nurses in private and government hospitals, who are among the frontline warriors in the battle against COVID-19, have alleged that they are fighting without adequate wages in Tamil Nadu. While nurses in a few private hospitals in the state require their institutions to provide salaries and allowances without any cutbacks, nurses hired at government hospitals lament the low pay provided to them compared to their counterparts elsewhere from the country.
Salary cuts and subsidies in private hospitals.
It has come to light that many private hospitals in Tamil Nadu have begun to cut wages for permanent and contract nurses. Even those treating COVID-19 patients are forced to undergo salary cuts, the nursing staff alleges.
According to them, there are permanent and contract nurses who receive salaries between Rs 12,000 and Rs 25,000. However, after the blockade was put in place to control the spread of the coronavirus, they say they have been forced to undergo a 15-50% pay cut, and hospitals cite low patient occupancy as the reason.
Kamal * works eight hours a day and works three shifts a week in a private hospital. “I was forced to undergo a 15% pay cut and with this, I will be losing a minimum of Rs 5,000. We have not been provided with an overtime allowance or a night shift and we are not even given cookies during the shift at night ”, he says.
“The hospital expects all workers to come to work, but with no travel options available, how can people from other districts come to Chennai? They do not understand this and are immediately reducing 50% of the salary of nurses who do not show up. Even if the nurses do not report to the service, other nurses carry out their work. The hospital is cutting the wages of those who cannot come but do not pay others, “he adds.
Private hospital nurses staged a protest Tuesday, demanding that hospital authorities pay the full amount of their salary without cuts. The nurses also demanded reinstatement of overtime and night shift assignments and other grants.
Raj, secretary of the Global Nurses Association, says: “We have received complaints from a couple of hospitals that nurses are forced to undergo pay cuts or even resign due to losses. However, we are doing everything we can to help nurses keep their jobs with the intervention of the Indian Medical Association. “
Pending salary increase for GH contract nurses
Nurses hired at government hospitals are also problematic, as they say they have not received a raise or have been permanent since 2015. Workers were promised permanent jobs in two years when they were hired in 2015. However, even after five-year-olds say they have not been absorbed by the service or have not been given a walk.
According to a report, the Madras High Court in 2018 had responded to a PIL filed by contract nurses, and ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 14,000 with Rs 500 as an increase each year against the wage of Rs 7,700 they received on the hour .
However, contract nurses say they are currently receiving only Rs 14,000 per month and have not received any increases in the past two years. “We had faith in the trial and we hope that the government will provide us with relief. However, even during COVID-19 days, we are not getting a hike. We are struggling to earn wages equal to that of our colleagues who are permanent employees. Hired nurses also have a duty in the COVID-19 wards as permanent employees, but when it comes to wages, we are not paid properly, ”says a hired nurse at a government hospital in Chennai.
On the claims filed with the government, Subin, Secretary General, Tamil Nadu Government MRB Nurses Empowerment Association, says: “We have two demands for the government. The government should provide equal pay for equal work and should absorb us as permanent nurses. We have been fighting for this, and we will continue to fight until the government meets the demands. ”
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