Ludhiana civil hospital working without salaries

Mehak Jain | TNN | Updated: Apr 22, 2020, 11:58 IST

LUDHIANA: The civil hospital doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff have not received their March salaries.
Some of them are on double shift due to the pandemic and working tirelessly under critical conditions. It has been 22 days that salaries have not been credited to their accounts, making it difficult for some of them to keep the wolf from the door. They alleged that last time too, their salaries were credited a month later.
A nurse working in the Covid-19 wing said, “Almost a week is left for the month to end, and none of us has received salaries. The civil surgeon needs to be held accountable as he has to ensure we get salaries on time. We are facing economic hardships too as my family is dependent on me. We have to work to meet day-to-day expenses, like fuel and utility bills. We are not living with families and it has been more than 10 days that I have not met my loved ones. We work for 15 days and for the remaining 15 stay in a hotel under quarantine. After working for another week, I will go back to the hotel. It is difficult for me to survive without salary. Other 13-14 of my colleagues are also sailing in the same boat.”
A doctor said, “We are working tirelessly and under stress. We have to wear PPE kits for about eight hours. We have been in isolation and quarantining ourselves. We can only urge the government to provide special financial benefits for our selfless efforts in treating people amid the coronavirus outbreak. The authorities must pay us at the earliest.”
Another frontline worker from the hospital said, “The Punjab government already pays us meager salaries, and now they have withheld that too. The Haryana government has decided to double the salaries of all healthcare workers tackling the Covid-19 outbreak. Odisha has also announced four months’ advance salary for healthcare personnel.”
Another staffer said, “The government has ordered all private schools, colleges and offices to pay salaries to their staff, but not cared a bit about us who are risking their lives. Fortunately, my wife is working in private sector and she has received her salary.”
Health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said, “Salaries are getting delayed as new tender has been floated. A new agency has been hired, which is uploading data of the officials. Once the process is completed, salaries will be disbursed. The issue is looked after by the finance department and I have also escalated it. I assure the staff that their salaries will be released within a week.”
Deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said, “There is no issue from the government side. The drawing and dispersing officer concerned may be asked as he has to do data entry.”