The strike by the contractual workers of Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam limited (UPNl) adversely affected the health services in the State on Thursday. The UPNl workers were on two hour work boycott from last few days which had affected the health services the most. These workers got further agitated on Thursday when they realised that the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday had no mention of their demands and they went on a complete strike.
The strike brought work in the associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) to a grinding halt. The work at registration counter, billing section, pathology lab, radiology department and some other important sections of the hospital were adversely affected.
The hospital administration deployed three permanent employees at the registration counters but the most important billing section was locked by the agitators. The hapless patients had no choice but to leave the hospital. Holding the hand of one son and carrying another in arms, Aasama, a resident of New Patel Nagar told this correspondent that the doctor has advised some blood tests to both her sons as they are suffering from fever but as the billing counter is closed she had no choice but to leave the hospital. Holding back her tears she said that her husband is a daily wager and the family cannot afford treatment in private hospitals. Rukma Chauhan of Uttarakashi said that her grand son is having some respiratory problem and due to strike of workers she is not able to decipher as what to do in a distant city. The Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojna (MSBY) counter of the hospital too was locked by the agitated UPNl workers due to which the poor patients faced problems. The strike also prolonged the stay of the in house patients.
The Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital Dr K K Tamta said that he has directed all the departments to collect the requisite fees as the centralized billing system of the hospital is affected by the strike. His orders however failed to have any effect.
The President of the UPNl workers of associated hospital of GDMC, Dinesh Singh Rawat said that all 171 UPNl workers of the hospital have gone on an indefinite strike as the state government is showing no concern for the demands of the workers.
The State President of the association of UPNl workers, Bhavesh Jaguri said that all 17000 workers of UPNl working in departments like health, education, Peyjal nigam, UPCl, forest and Secretariat have gone on a complete strike. He said that the workers from different parts of the state are holding demonstrations and many of them are heading to the protest site near parade ground where a massive Dharna is going on. The UPNl workers are demanding that their services should be converted into a departmental contract in the departments they are working. This technical change would pave the way of the workers who are working for more than five years.