Scores of private security guards, employed at government hospitals, caught the attention of passers-by as they protested at the Gandhi statue near the GVMC with hay in their mouths, depicting their plight due to non-payment of salaries for the past four months.
The agitated men and women gathered in large numbers and raised slogans against the contractor and sought justice. The security guards, numbering around 400, working at eight government hospitals in the city, launched an indefinite strike on Friday.
Neelima, who was posted at King George Hospital (KGH), said that she was not getting her salary for the past four months. “I am unable to pay the school fee of my son and daughter, studying in 6th and 5th classes respectively. Our house-owner is also insisting on vacating the house as we could not pay rent for the past four months,” she lamented. P. Nagaraju, P. Raju and others said that they were not in a position to feed their family members.
Less wages
J.D. Naidu, general secretary of Visakhapatnam Security Guards’ Union(AITUC), said that the government had released the funds till June. The contractor has to pay the salaries of his staff for some months, even if his payment was delayed. The security guards were being paid only ₹6,490 a month as against the minimum wages of ₹9,000.
The contractor was not giving convincing replies when asked about the undue delay in payment of salaries. He was also not properly implementing ESI and PF, Mr. Naidu alleged.
He said that the issue was already represented to the District Collector, the Director of Medical Education and the Superintendents of government hospitals. Demonstrations would be held at all the government hospitals from Saturday.
