Pourakarmikas at K R Hospital denied minimum wages

Despite rules regarding minimum wages for pourakarmikas, 90 employees at K R Hospital were found to be receiving much less than the stipulated wages. The issue came to light during the visit of M Shivanna, Chairperson of the National Safai Karmachari Commission, here, on Monday.

Pourakarmikas, while interacting with Shivanna, said, they were receiving a monthly salary of Rs 5,818. The K R Hospital has outsourced cleaning works to a private agency. Shivanna said, the Ministry of Labour has fixed a minimum wage of Rs 8,400. Considering inflation, the amount has been revised to Rs 11,000 from this April, he said.

He questioned, why the Superintendent of K R Hospital, Dr B G Sagar, had not brought the issue to the attention of the government.

He said, there is a need to regulate the practice of paying wages much lower than the minimum wages fixed by the government. Government institutions should strictly instruct the contractors to comply with government regulations before inviting tenders. If any agency is found paying less salary, their contract should be discontinued, he said.

The commission will bring such lapses to the attention of the government and urge it to formulate a policy regarding the issue, he said. The contractors were also directed to pay the wages fixed by the Centre from April 1.

No facilities
The contractors were taken to task for not providing basic facilities for pourakarmikas, who were found disposing medical waste without any safety equipment.
He said, the hospital authorities should ensure that pourakarmikas wear gloves, shoes and aprons, before taking up cleaning activities at the hospital, failing which action will be initiated.