The Kerala Women's Commission would soon appeal to the state government to make necessary legislation to protect the rights woman employees working in the private and public healthcare institutions in Kerala.

The move is in the wake of a recent study undertook by the Centre for Human Resources Development (CHRD) on behalf of Kerala Women's Commission has revealed that among the 150 odd small, medium and large scale hospitals across the state, majority of the female paramedical staff encounter various forms of exploitation by their employers. The plight of female paramedics ranges from poor wages to hostile work conditions, the study shows.

Talking to Pharmabiz, M.Kamalam, chairperson of Kerala Women's Commission said the commission would soon forward its recommendations to the government, and would strongly advocate bringing in necessary legislations to protect the rights of women employees working in various private and public healthcare institutions in Kerala.

She said the recommendations would be based on the report and as per a recent similar random survey done directly by the commission among 100 odd women employees working with various government institutions related to health. The core committee of Women's Commission would discuss the reports and recommendations within a day or two, and would forward the reports to government, said M Kamalam.

According to the CHRD study, women employees are forced to work overtime in most of the hospitals, often, continuous two shifts for 12 hours. Some nurses who participated in the study complained of work lasting even 18 hours a day. Many complained of harassment by authorities and threatening to remove from service when they had tried to object to the tight work schedule.

Worse, even qualified nurses with over two years of experience and good educational background are paid less than Rs.2500, even by well-established hospitals, though many of them had promised good salaries in their appointment letters. Only eight percent of the nurses among the respondents were satisfied with their salaries. Nevertheless, the report also mentions some hospitals in the state were offering Rs.5000 above salaries per month to nurses. The paramedics also complain of negation of benefits like salary during maternity leave, other statutory leave benefits etc.

The survey also revealed that even most of the big hospitals in the state lack exclusive rooms for women to change their uniforms, and employees are forced to manage this at their duty rooms itself. In the expected lines, the survey revealed more than 5 percent of the respondents had to face sexual exploitation or lewd comments from male colleagues or patients.

The survey has recommended immediate action to reduce the workload of paramedics. It suggests stipulating a maximum of 48 hours per week work for women employees with a maximum work of eight hours a day, and formation of a mechanism to monitor implementing the same. Another recommendation of the study is to constitute a Welfare Board for Employees at each hospital, with inclusion of members from local panchayaths or similar institutions and from other departments.

The survey has also stressed to formulate stringent action against sexual exploitation and to explore necessary safety measures during work hours.