Even as the nursing staff in major private hospitals in Kerala and in big cities like Mumbai and Kolkata are going on strikes demanding better wages and living conditions, the Qualified Private Medical Practitioners Association (QPMPA), an association of private medical practitioners and hospital managements centered in Kerala, has requested the state government and the political parties not to encourage strikes and boycotts by the caretakers as majority of the hospital managements is ready to pay the minimum wages to their staff nurses.
QPMPA’s executive committee that held in Ernakulam felt that the nurses association was holding strikes to paralyze the hospitals despite a stay order by the Kerala high court against implementation of minimum wages as per the direction issued by the government in December 2009.
Dr K Kishore Kumar, secretary of the Association maintained that the nurses associations in the country are demanding more than the minimum wages prescribed and the hospitals are not financially capable to meet their demands.
The nurses are holding strikes demanding higher salaries and allowances besides relaxation in bond system. They are also protesting against the management’s unfair system of keeping the nurses’ original educational certificates that prevent them from leaving their jobs before completing the contract period. Indefinite strikes are going on in hospitals in Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts.
In north India, apart from better salary and living conditions, the working nurses are demanding freedom from exploitative conditions, protection from alleged harassment by hospital managements, relaxation in bond system and return of certificates on request.
QPMPA requested the striking nurses to withdraw from their agitations because their protests drive the hospitals in to non-functioning which will in turn force to shut down for ever. This unethical attitude of the nurses, according to doctors, badly affects the ongoing treatment of patients admitted in hospitals and the functioning of the healthcare centres. The Association has made a demand to the state government and the political parties which are supporting the strikes to withdraw from their encouraging attitude as it will only lead the hospitals into a crisis. They said it is desirable that all the private hospital establishments in the country be brought under ESMA.
In the meeting, the doctors raised their voices against the surprise raids and inspections in their health centres by the officials of drugs control department, labour department and staff from Shops & Establishment wing. They demanded to the government to take measures to stop these unfair activities of regulatory bodies, or else, all the private hospitals will down their shutters in protest against this torture. Their another request to the government is that it should take immediate measures to implement the Hospital Protection Act in order to save doctors and hospitals from public attack.
State president Dr MA Koya, national president Dr O Baby, Dr Jospeh Stephen, Dr Syriac, Dr TPV Surendran, Dr C M Abubaker, Dr Janardhanan, Dr Biju Pillai and Dr Kishore Kumar spoke in the meeting.