Contract nurses warn of strike over five-month salary dues in Hyderabad hospitals

Nearly 160 contract nurses hired during the Covid pandemic have not received salaries for five months and staged a dharna at the DME office in Hyderabad. They demanded immediate payment, accusing health officials of negligence and warning of an indefinite strike

Hyderabad: For the past five months, nearly 160 senior nursing staff have been struggling to make ends meet due to non-payment of salaries. Hired on a contract basis during the Covid pandemic, they staged a dharna in front of the Director of Medical Education (DME) office on Tuesday demanding immediate release of pending salaries.

“With no salaries, we have been taking loans from private lenders. However, now the lenders are demanding payment of interest as well as the principal amount. We are in a desperate situation,” said Sudha, a contract nurse from Osmania General Hospital.

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Led by senior office-bearers of AITUC, the contract nursing staff demanded immediate release of their salaries.

“The average take-home salary for each nurse is around Rs 23,000. How can the government expect their families to survive if they are not paid salaries for the past five months? We demand immediate release of pending salaries,” M Narasimha, the State Deputy General Secretary of AITUC, said.

After the Covid pandemic, all the contract nurses were transferred to Niloufer Hospital, Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, ENT Hospital, Koti Maternity Hospital and Osmania General Hospital.

The protesting staff said that they received their salaries through TIMS until March, and since April their salaries have been due from the DME office. They accused health department officials of neglecting their duties and deliberately delaying salary payments and warned of an indefinite strike.