Contract workers go on strike at Sagar Dutta hospital, patients suffer
The Statesman | 6 July 2024
The temporary contract workers, under the contractor of the medicine department at Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital have gone on strike and protest due to not receiving their salaries for the past four months.
Today marks the second day of the strike. Patients cannot be admitted to the hospital, causing frustration and anger among their relatives. This is the fourth time the temporary contract workers have protested and gone on strike, having been agitating for a long time. Despite informing local legislator Madan Mitra and MP Saugata Roy, no action has been taken, forcing them to halt work and close all hospital services as part of their strike. The unorganized contract workers claimed that two of their colleagues had died due to not receiving their salaries for four months. One of them, Phuleshwari Das, was remembered, with a photograph of her being garlanded and the workers held a protest with posters reading “No Pay, No Work.”
Initially, they protested at the gate and then moved to the second floor of the hospital, blocking the Prof (Dr) Sujay Mistri, MSVP’s office and staging a sit-in protest outside his office. The protest continued for a long time, after which the MSVP and other high-ranking officials of the hospital held discussions with the temporary contract workers and the finance department of the health building to resolve the issue.
Due to the strike by the temporary contract workers, all patient services at the medicine department of Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital have been halted. Patients from far and wide come to this hospital for health services, and the indoor and ICU sections have patients admitted, who are now facing interruptions in their treatment. Various areas of the hospital are lying dirty as no cleaning has been done in the past few days. For instance, a patient undergoing dialysis had to be taken for dialysis with police assistance. Additionally, Sharmila Acharya, a cancer and nerve patient could not get her blood tested yesterday and had to roam around between two counters today, with only one counter open. If a cancer and nerve patient has to wander around the hospital like this, an accident could happen at any moment.
The medical services of this large hospital are in a dire state. Prof (Dr) Sujay Mistri, MSVP stated that repeated discussions are being held with the protesters and the health department. They have requested the workers to continue their agitation while keeping patient services running and have taken steps to ensure that the workers’ dues are paid. The issue is entirely with the contractor, who is not submitting bills on time. The MSVP mentioned that if the contractor follows the tender rules and pays the workers on time, they will settle the contractor’s dues promptly. They are trying to restore patient services as soon as possible.