Deccan Chronicle: Kochi: Monday, 07 July 2014.
The return of
the nurses from Iraq is now training spotlight on the reason for their
migration from Kerala to a strife-torn and insecure place like Iraq in search
of job and money. The main reason for the migration is the poor wages paid to nurses here. One of the best skilled in the
world, Malayali nurses are often given a raw deal in their home state, which in
the recent past resulted in several agitations by nurses.
In a recent
reply to an RTI query, the statistics of the Labour Department revealed that 80
percent of the hospitals in the state paid nurses below the minimum wage of Rs
10,000 fixed by the Labour Department itself. “The nurses are an exploited lot
in the state. The hospitals employ various methods to pay less salary while
setting tough working conditions for them. The main among them is downgrading
of the hospitals by the hospitals themselves.
“The hospitals are categorized into six and
the sixth grade belongs to hospitals with over 800 beds. But all hospitals do
not show the correct grade and show
lower grade in order to pay less salary
to the staff,” said Jasmine Shah, president, United Nurses Association which
led a series of agitations by nurses
demanding decent wages for the nursing staff in recent times.
He said that
the only solution to the problem is bringing nurses working in private
hospitals under the Health Department, like
nurses in government hospitals. Currently, they belong to the Labour
Department. Jasmine said that Metro Hospital in Thrissur where the organization
waged a strike is yet to adhere to the agreement brokered by the Labour
Department. “There are only two shifts and no three shifts as stipulated in the
agreement and general nurses are paid Rs
8000 while B.Sc nurses are given Rs 8,500 which is very pathetic,” he said.
To avoid
problems, the hospitals ensure that no
organizational activities are indulged
in by the nurses within their premises and also do not employ those ‘suspected’ of such activities. The
recommendations of the Balaraman Committee appointed to study the working
conditions of the nurses are yet to be implemented. “The 32 directions of the
committee come under Health Department and 18 under the Labour department which
include eight-hour shift, five-day week, benefits like medical leave, maternity
leave etc. But they still remain on paper,” Shah pointed out.
Dr Philip
Augustine, managing director of Lakeshore Hospital, where a protest was held by
nurses, said that his hospital was the only one paying the Industrial Relations
Committee (IRC) recommended wages in the state which was brokered with the
intervention of Labour Minister Shibu Baby John.
“The ploy of
these hospitals is to lower their grades and pay less salaries. We are not
saying that they are not paying salaries. They pay less than what is
prescribed,” said Shah who added that hospitals like Mother Hospital, Thrissur,
where agitations were staged even sabotaged the three-shift system while Kannur
Anjarakkandi Medical College openly announced they are not ready for any
agreement on paying more wages.
“The
stipulation on the number of nurses is that in the general ward there should be
1 nurse for five to seven patients while in the emergency care it should be
1:1. But this is not adhered to by several hospitals,” Shah added.
R.
Ranganathan, general manager, Amrita Hospital, which also witnessed an agitation
by nurses, said that the hospital is
currently paying minimum wages and above
to nurses on the basis of their experience. But Jasmine Shah alleged
that the hospital, which should be in the grade of medical colleges with over
800 beds, had lowered
its grade in order to pay less salary to nurses.
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