Health employees without salaries, incentives; stage protest

Medical employees staging protest in Srinagar. -Excelsior/Shakeel
Medical employees staging protest in Srinagar. -Excelsior/Shakeel

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 31: Employees working in various Kashmir hospitals under Hospital Development Fund (HDF) today staged a protest against the non-payment of their salaries for the last more than one year.
A number of these employees appeared in the Press Enclave and raised slogans in favour of their demands while alleging that they are being subjected to injustice by the concerned department.

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The employees said that as they are without salaries even as they are working tirelessly round the clock amid the COVID pandemic. “We are without salaries for the last one and a half year. We are being paid salaries through HDF and while the majority of the hospitals have been turned into COVID hospitals resulting in the non-availability of the funds,” Mudasir Yosuf Mir one of the employees said.
He said that the employees demand that their salaries must be released directly by the Finance Department as is being done in the case of other casual labourers.
The employees who are 1800 in number across the J&K UT also demanded the implementation of the Minimum Wages Act so that they are paid as per their work.
While the Government has announced incentives to the healthcare workers keeping in view the COVID-19 pandemic, the protesting employees said that they have been kept off despite working as frontline workers.
“Incentives as well risk allowances were announced for the front line workers amid must be given to us as we have been kept out of that even as 75% per cent of workers tested positive for the COVID and 2 have died as well, one in Jammu and Kashmir,” the employees said.
The employees warned that they are giving a 2-week deadline to the Government to address their demanding failing to which they will be forced to come out on roads along with their families.