JOIN USVokkaligara Sangha warns agitating KIMS employees
As the protests by the staff of Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) intensified, the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha on Tuesday said it was facing huge financial losses and had decided to terminate the excess staff. The Sangha, which runs KIMS, also refused to regularise the services of nursing staff who are on a strike.
Addressing a press conference here, Sangha president Dr Appaji Gowda said that though KIMS was overstaffed, the Sangha on humanitarian grounds had decided not to sack the employees.
However, the recent protests by the staff has forced the Sangha to rethink on the issue and set up a five-member committee to cut down the excess staff, lecturers and nursing staff in KIMS.
“KIMS is a 750-bed hospital and the nursing staff requirement is only 350. However, we have around 670 nursing staff. A section of nursing staff has been demanding regularisation while doctors are seeking a pay hike. We are suffering financial losses. Following the protests, we have decided to remove the excess staff and not regularise the services of nurses,” Dr Gowda said.
Doctors working in KIMS were being paid the highest salary in the country. For example, a lecturer was being paid Rs 60,000 per month, assistant professor Rs 80,000, associate professors Rs 1.2 lakh and professors’ salary was in the range of Rs 1.65 to Rs 1.7 lakh
“Ours is not a government hospital and we don’t get any grants. Our finances are in a bad shape. We are earning Rs 95 crore while our expenditure is Rs 110 crore. The root cause of the entire problem is mismanagement by the previous management,” he said.