Source: Hueiyen News Service / Kamala Salam
Imphal, July 29 2009:
Proprietors of private hospitals in the state have allegedly collected signature of the nurses for taking self responsibility if any of them is kidnapped or detained by miscreants in connection with monetary demands served by the underground activists threatening the hospital with bombs and guns on the same demand.
In this regard, a nurse serving at the Raj Poly Clinic, North AOC, the threat of the undergrounds to kidnap them to get their demands is an unfortunate thing.
Hospital is like a temple for ailing people.
To serve patients and satisfied them by their service is the motto of the nurses.
So, the threat posed on them is not good.
Another nurse serving at the Imphal Hospital Research Centre said the demand of the undergrounds to the hospital is amidst the nurses are pressing the hospital authority to hike their meager monthly salaries.
Attacking with bombs and guns to the hospital only for getting their monetary demand could not be said as a true ideology.
Before the underground served demand and threatened for not meeting it, they need to know the income and expenditure of the hospital and the salaries given to the staff of the hospitals, a nurse serving at Public Hospital, Hatta Minuthong observed.
It is unfortunate thing to threaten with repeated attacks to the hospital causing panic and fear to the patients and employees of the hospital with strong pressure to meet their demand, she added.
Even though, there is standing order of the Central government employment provident fund (EPF) for the employees in the registered private companies, such order is not enforcing in the private hospitals in the state.
In this condition, it is sure to starve the employees in the private hospital after retirement from the jobs.
There is strong need for government taking up action to implement the order.
Keeping this behind, in some private hospitals, nurses were given only Rs 1000 per month when the initial stage of joining the service.
Most of the hospitals are not paying the minimum wage rate fixed by the state labour department.
The nurses working in the private hospital drew the attention of the authority of the labour department in this regard during interaction with the Hueiyen Lanpao.
They further disclosed that a good numbers of candidates after passing GNM and ANM thronged the private hospital seeking employment.
Hospital authorities appoint them for three months as examining their performances without providing single paise and left most of them except two or three after completing three months.
This amount to giving harassment to the employees, they observed.