District hospital sanitation workers resume duty, warn of protest if April pay not cleared

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun

Sanitation workers at Deen Dayal Upadhyay District Hospital boycotted work on Friday and Saturday over non-payment of their April salaries. They resumed duty on Saturday afternoon after the hospital administration and contractor assured them that dues would be cleared on Monday. The workers warned that protests would resume if salaries remain unpaid on Monday.

Notably, sanitation workers staged a protest in the district hospital premises from Friday morning, which continued till Saturday afternoon. They agitated over pending April salaries and abstained from work during this period. Sources said the boycott affected hygiene conditions at the hospital.

Sanitation worker Sangeeta Bhutani claimed that 15 to 16 workers are engaged in sanitation duties at the hospital. She stated they had not received April salaries from their contractor. Despite repeatedly approaching the hospital administration, their concerns remained unheard, she added. Consequently, they began the protest and work boycott on Friday morning, continuing until Saturday afternoon. Bhutani informed that on Saturday, the contractor and the principal medical superintendent at the hospital assured them that their salaries would be released on Monday. Following this assurance, they ended the protest and resumed work.

Bhutani further said that if salaries are not paid on Monday, they will resume their agitation. She alleged that instead of deploying 25 to 26 workers, authorities have engaged only 15 to 16, doubling their workload. She also claimed their wages have not been revised. Bhutani added that a new contractor secured the tender recently, and workers had approached him regarding a salary hike, but their concerns were not addressed. Several other sanitation workers have raised similar grievances, she said.

In this regard, the district hospital’s principal medical superintendent Dr Manu Jain said the April salary of sanitation workers is pending and will be disbursed on Monday. He added that any decision on wage increment will be taken after discussions with the new contractor, who was recently awarded the tender.