Asha Kiran nurses protest against conditions,sacked

“We are being made to work as safai karamcharis. There are written orders for us to clean coolers in the room at least once in two weeks and to bathe the inmates twice a day. We are here to provide medical care and not to clean or keep account of detergent used,” said Nidhi Sethi,one of the nurses who sat on protest.

A nurse usually has to work from 8 pm till 8 am. On certain days,this 12-hour shift is stretched by another six hours,they claimed.

The nurses are also required to give medicines to the patients on time and accompany them to hospital in case of emergency. They complained that the patient-nurse ratio still continues to be 1:50 instead of the norm 1:5. Nurses at Asha Kiran are being paid Rs 10,000 per month,while the Delhi government payscale for nurses is Rs 17,000,the

nurses added.

“There is no proper supervision. We work under a Welfare Officer,who is usually not trained or aware about medical problems,” said Sandhya Kumari. The nurses also claim that the situation at the home has not improved much and it still does not have essential medical instruments like suction pumps or thermometers.

Secretary Social Welfare Manoj Parida confirmed that the services of the nurses have been terminated. “They were hired on contractual basis and we were not happy with their work. So it is alright to terminate them. We shall be hiring replacements soon,” Parida told Newsline.