The minimum wage drive will continue till December 21, and a Special Task Force (STF) will visit the 11 districts every day.The Delhi government has asked all medical superintendents of state-run hospitals to review if minimum wages are being paid to contractual workers deployed in various departments and file reports. Sources in the health department said a special committee has also been formed to look into previous dues and if they were paid on time to staff, which will submit a report in a week.
The move comes after Delhi Labour Minister Gopal Rai conducted a surprise inspection at Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital – as part of a 10-day drive to check compliance with minimum wage rules in the city – and found that the outsourcing firm at the hospital was not complying with the rules.
Rai suggested that an FIR be registered against the company.
Services and posts such as security, sanitation, nursing orderly, data entry operator and drivers are outsourced to private contractors in all government-run hospitals.
A senior Delhi government official said, “We are yet to receive reports from the hospitals… the committee formed separately to deal with the matter is expected to submit its report by next week. Every contractual employee should be paid as per the revised minimum wages; any violation will not be tolerated.”
An internal report prepared by the health department earlier this year claimed that around 15,000 private
employees, outsourced for various jobs, were not being paid their Employee Provident Fund (EPF), insurance and bonus by contractors for the last 10 years despite charging the government for it.
The report was also sent to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who acknowledged it on May 10 and forwarded it to the departments concerned.
According to sources, the issue has been plaguing the health department for a long time. The former Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Tarun Seem, had formed a four-member committee in 2016 to look into the issues. A letter was also sent to all medical superintendents to give a status report of all outsourced workers.
The minimum wage drive will continue till December 21, and a Special Task Force (STF) will visit the 11 districts every day.
Earlier this year, five officials from Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela were suspended for not paying minimum wages to workers.
