Asif Iqbal
Srinagar, July 20 : The paramedical staff of seven hospitals here under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Medical Employees Federation on Monday started two-day hunger strike to press for their demands, particularly regularization of their services.
Reports reaching said that hunger strike was held in Government Medical College Park and patient care was badly hit in the associated hospitals of GMC.
As per officials, even vital sections of these hospitals are being run by class-IV employees despite the fact they are not qualified people to do the job of technologists, pharmacists etc and put the lives of people at risk.
Similarly in other cadres like nursing, pharmacy, general laboratories, radiology etc patient care was hit, they said.
“Out of around 87 people in the Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, almost 80 people are working on academic arrangement basis and only 7 are confirmed and due to this large number of surgical procedures have been delayed as Anesthesia Department is the backbone of these hospitals,” sources said.
Some officials in the department confirmed that it was a matter of serious concern that these hospitals are run on adhocism.
A senior leader of the Federation told GNS that thousands of paramedics of GMC and associated hospitals who were appointed since 2011 under SRO 384 on academic arrangements are working tirelessly without any break since then.
He said the federation decided to go on two-day hunger strike for regularization of services.
“We decided to go on strike against the government’s indifference to address our genuine demands which include framing of regularization policy,” he said adding that most of the employees are over aged now and cannot apply for fresh posts if referred to SSRB.
“These hospitals like LD which is lone maternity hospital, SMHS hospital, GB Panth hospital, Chest Disease hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital Barzulla are important part of the Valley’s healthcare. The government should our genuine demands sans any further delay,” he said.
The demands of the protesting staff include regularization of the academic arrangement employees who have not been regularized even after nine years of service; regularization of HDF and SDF hospital staff; repealing of SRO-384/409; and enhancement of salary of HDF and SDF staff.
The federation has warned that if state administration failed to meet their demands until July 23, they will intensify the stir and the entire responsibility shall lie on the administration. (GNS)
