SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 23: Despite the ongoing strike by the outsourcing staff against the retrenchment order, the Jharkhand Health Department has abolished 101 non-technical posts in the Hospital of Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College (SNMMCH) Dhanbad.
Though the hospital authority served the letter to the outsourcing company Frontline on Monday evening for withdrawing the staff working on non-technical posts, the company had not issued the list of retrenched persons at 1 pm of Tuesday.
The strike of outsourcing staff entered its fifth day on Tuesday. Since the hospital is totally dependent on the outsourcing staff, indoor patients in wards, emergency and dialysis wings are suffering a lot. Some patients on Tuesday were seen returning from the hospital due to a lack of a dresser in the ward.
A total of 424 technical and non-technical staff of the Frontline outsourcing company have been working in the Hospital of SNMMC for eight years.
Additional chief secretary (ACS) Health Arun Kumar Singh has issued a letter for abolishing 101 staff working on non–technical posts such as dressers, stretcher-bearers, ward boys, record and storekeepers, steno, typists and ward attendants from May 21.
All 424 outsourcing staff have been on indefinite strike since May 19 against the retrenchment of 101 staff. Though some of them (working on technical posts) have returned to their duty today, the majority of them are still sitting on dharna as they do not know whether their names figured in the retrenchment list or not.
SNMMCH authorities admitted that owing to the indefinite strike of outsourcing staff, the patients in wards have to face hardship as the hospital has not enough regular staff in the required number to cater for their requirements. “Some of them have returned and the situation would improve by evening today,” said an authority.
BJP senior leader Ragni Singh also reached SNMMCH in the morning and after meeting with patients in different wards expressed dismay over the apathetic attitude of the health department as well as the state government.
“When the hospital is totally dependent on the outsourcing staff, the government should not have abolished the posts before making alternative arrangements,” she said.
