PNS | DEHRADUN
Protesting against delay in payment of salary, the sanitation workers at Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital initiated a strike on Monday and staged a demonstration outside the OPD building. Notably, the sanitation issue has persisted as a significant concern at GDMC for some time now. Consequently, numerous patients and their attendants have consistently voiced their concern regarding the level of hygiene at the hospital, which poses a risk of infections.
On Monday, sanitation workers demonstrated outside the OPD building and stressed that they will refrain from performing their duties. They said that the reason for their strike stems from not receiving payment from their contractors, who have been responsible for sanitation services at GDMC for the past two months. The workers added that they have repeatedly urged their contractor to ensure timely payment of their salaries. They said that their contractor expressed that he has not received the sanitation payment from the authorities, which has made it impossible for him to pay the workers their salaries on time.
The sanitation workers reported that they raised their concerns with the hospital administration, but no action has been taken thus far. Due to the delay in payment for the past two months, the sanitation workers at GDMC have staged a protest and ceased their duties to uphold hygiene standards at the hospital. They asserted that their strike and protest would continue until they received the two months’ salary owed to them from the contractor responsible for the sanitation work.
In light of this situation, many patients have also voiced their concerns regarding the unhygienic conditions in the hospital, particularly the toilets. A patient, Bindu Johri said that she has been visiting GDMC for treatment for an extended period. She said that the hospital’s floors remain dirty and the toilets emit such a stench that even admitted patients detect it without using the facilities. She said that the GDMC is falling short in terms of hygiene, and if the strike continues for an extended period, the poor sanitation may result in the spread of infections among patients and their visitors. The hospital management needs to address this, she said.
In response to this, a deputy medical superintendent at the hospital Dr NS Bisht said that the frequent strikes by sanitation workers over the past few months have exacerbated the longstanding hygiene issues at the facility. Recently, some sanitation workers demonstrated outside the emergency department and in other areas of the hospital. He stated that the frequent strikes by sanitation workers are attributed to the disorder and confusion between them and the contractor assigned to manage sanitation at the hospital. He said that the sanitation workers have expressed concerns regarding the timely disbursement of their salaries from the outsourced sanitation company for their services. He clarified that the hospital administration is not involved in the sanitation workers’ issues. However, in light of these concerns, they have submitted a letter to the state administration requesting the reissuance of a tender for sanitation services to a new company for GDMC. He said that it is likely that the new outsourcing company will be appointed for sanitation work at the hospital following the end of model code of conduct in place for the local body elections.
