Striking health workers returning, says dept

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services (HFWS) D Randeep said that he, alongside Health Minister K Sudhakar, had productive talks with striking healthcare workers and that they were slowly returning to work.

Over 600 employees from 122 government hospitals had been on strike on Thursday. This included dialysis technicians, nurses and ‘D’ group staff. Some of them had staged a protest at Freedom Park on Thursday.

The workers said that salaries of some of them had been nearly halved after they went from being paid by the government to being recompensed by a private agency, ESKAG Pharma. The strike has affected thousands of kidney patients, who are forced to either advance their date of dialysis or postpone the life-saving procedure.

Randeep said that he and the Health Minister met five representatives of the striking workers at Vidhana Soudha. “I have advised the employing agency to reinstate the striking staff and give them their dues,” he said.

However, an official said the matter of dues was in fact sub-judice. “We are bound by a court order. The matter is still in dispute. Whether we should pay or the agency should pay. We can even go to the extent of depositing with the court,” he said.