TVVP employees protest in Hyderabad; Demand release of their pending salaries

The TVVP contract workers and their families have been struggling with irregular monthly salaries for the past 7 months in Telangana

Hyderabad: Nearly 4000 contract workers in Telangana Vaidya Vidya Parishad (TVVP) health care institutions across Telangana State on Wednesday launched statewide protests demanding release of their salaries, which are pending for the past four months.

Throughout Wednesday, the contract workers, who take care of the sanitation, security and patient care at all the TVVP hospitals in Telangana State, participated in a series of protests in Hyderabad and districts, demanding the State government immediately release their salaries.

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The TVVP contract workers and their families have been struggling with irregular monthly salaries for the past 7 months in Telangana. With the State government and third party agencies that employ the contract workers not releasing funds on time, every month the contract workers are forced to take to streets and launch protests.

“They (third party agencies and the State government) are releasing salaries only after we launch a protest. On the one hand, senior health officials keep assuring us that salaries will be released promptly but on the other hand, they keep on delaying the release of funds. How can families of security and sanitation workers survive if they are not paid promptly?,” asks M Narasimha, state president for Medical Contract Employees and Workers Union.

The protesting TVVP contract workers said they are also not receiving the entire amount of their monthly salary of Rs 15, 600.

“If we take out the PF component, then each contract employee must be paid Rs. 13, 600 per month. However, they are paid only Rs 11, 000 and in some government hospitals, they are paid even less i.e. Rs 10, 000. It is clear that the hospital managements and third party agencies are colluding and paying less to the contract employee,” says Narasimha.

Apart from salaries, contract workers in government hospitals are also not allowed to take leaves, as mandated in the labor laws. “According to contract labor laws, it is mandatory for authorities to provide at least 4 days holidays as festival leaves, 4 days as national holidays and 16 earned leaves. However, these rules are seldom implemented,” he said.