The non-gazetted staff of Kashmir’s premier well being institute, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), are a frightened lot after the hospital administration stopped their month-to-month allowance from January which they’d get in lieu of attending duties on official holidays.
On the similar time, the non-gazetted employees was barred from availing any holidays within the final 10 days of March because the authorities feared it could impede the affected person care and everyday functioning of the hospital.
The event comes months after the Jammu and Kashmir authorities took away the autonomy of SKIMS following the modifications in J&Okay after the revocation of Article 370 in 2019.
The finance division of the institute has stopped paying the non-gazetted employees, together with paramedics, doormen, cleansing employees and others the month-to-month allowance equal to two-and-a-half days pay, in lieu of attending duties on gazette holidays, from this yr which they’ve been getting for the previous three many years. It mentioned it did it on the instructions of presidency.
When the employees had determined to take the gazetted holidays within the third week of March, the hospital administration cancelled all holidays from March 20 to 31.
“For the previous three many years, we’ve been getting this allowance as are the opposite emergency companies like police, public well being engineering and the ability division. However they’ve stopped ours for no obvious motive,” mentioned an worker.
He mentioned that the hospital authorities do not know how it will have an effect on the functioning of the hospital if the non-gazetted employees avail holidays at a time.
“The hospital stays open 24*7 and the sufferers know that the hospital is open on all days apart from the closure of OPD on Sunday. Now if an individual working in a lab chooses to take off who will go for checks of sufferers. Who will open the cabin of docs? Who will go for the cleanliness of the hospital,” he mentioned.
The workers mentioned that lots of them needed to avail the UT holidays on March 21 and 22 however had been barred from doing so.
“We thought after we don’t get the allowance then we’ve a proper to avail holidays however then director SKIMS issued one other order saying no holidays until March 31,” mentioned one other employees member.
“That is going to be an actual explanation for concern, a serious inconvenience to the sufferers, if the problem will not be resolved quickly,” he mentioned.
The SKIMS administration, then again, mentioned that the allowance was stopped on the orders of the federal government after the accountant basic’s audit as some staff had been “not eligible” for such allowance.
Director Finance SKIMS, Sheikh Intikhab mentioned that they’ve fashioned a committee which is able to reframe an inventory of staff who’re eligible for such allowance after which write to the federal government.
“We are going to ship the checklist of staff to the federal government, those that are eligible and non-eligible for such allowance, and can wait for his or her instructions,” he mentioned.
The hospital in February was divested of its autonomy after the overall administration division of J&Okay authorities knowledgeable that it has been introduced below the management of the Well being and Medical Training Division. The hospital administration was requested to submit all issues, proposals, case information for consideration or approval of the competent authority by means of the Well being and Medical Training Division.
The order had induced an upheaval among the many medical fraternity in addition to political leaders with Nationwide Convention, whose chief Sheikh Abdullah laid its basis, saying that the snatching away of its autonomy undermines the hospital’s id and objective and would have an effect on its functioning.