Delhi: Non-Faculty Staff at AIIMS Threaten Indefinite Strike Over Poor Service Conditions

Seeking solutions for their “long-lasting grievance” of poor service conditions, unions representing the non-faculty staff at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) threatened a work strike for an indefinite period on Wednesday.

Among the major demands being raised by the non-faculty staff include implementation of Regulation 35 of the AIIMS Regulation 1999, a review of cadre and implementation of the Kusum Verma Committee recommendations.

The AIIMS Nurses Union, along with the Karmachari Union – AIIMS and Officers Association of AIIMS submitted a joint strike notice to the hospital administration, saying that an indefinite strike will commence from October 25 if their demands were not met.

Established in 1956 by an Act of Parliament, AIIMS is a group of autonomous public medical universities of higher education in the country. It falls under the jurisdiction of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

On Wednesday, enlisting 47 demands in all, the aggrieved employees belonging to all cadre groups in AIIMS Delhi said that their demands have remained pending for decades and have so far invited “no sobering endeavour” from both the hospital administration and MoHFW.

“We [have] only received provocative classical bedevilment from concerned officials of these ministries, which [have] tested our patience for decades...” read the notice addressed to the Director of AIIMS, mentioning that the strike was the result of such apathy.

Fameer C.K. general secretary of the AIIMS Nurses Union, told Newsclick on Thursday that the three unions which have submitted the strike notice represented all the non-faculty staff in the country’s premiere medical centre. “What do we do? We are forced to go on strike because, despite participating in multiple meetings with the administration, our demands have not been met,” he said.

As per the Regulation 35 of the AIIMS Regulations, all the employees of AIIMS are entitled to the same pay scale and allowances as are admissible to the employees of comparable status in the Central Government. Had this been resolved, “most of the grievances of employees of AIIMS New Delhi would not have arisen,” the unions claimed in their strike notice.

“Implementation of Regulation 35 is a matter pertaining to the bonuses and other benefits to the employees. But, more importantly, what we these employees are facing is extreme work pressure in the hospital due to severe shortage of staff,” rued Fameer.

According to him, no cadre review has taken place in AIIMS New Delhi for the last 30 years, which, as per the government guidelines, should have been conducted after every five years. “The result is that while many centres have been built in the hospital, the number of posts for nurses and other employees have remained the same. This also dilutes the quality of medical services that are provided to the patients,” Fameer said.

The unions’ other demands include a review of the contribution made by the administration in the New Pension Scheme (NPS), enhancement of hospital accommodations, along with reformation of the EHS facilities in the hospital.

EHS (Department of Family Medicine) was established to take care of “preventive, promotive and curative aspects” of health care of institute employees and their dependents.

The AIIMS employees have been playing a crucial role since the hospital took charge to treat COVID-19 patients in the national capital last year. Fameer added that the working conditions must be improved in the facility at New Delhi. “We are not demanding a lot and the prevailing conditions are taking a toll on all of us now,” he added.