District hospital contractual staff stage protest

The staff who are employed on a contract basis at the district hospital staged a protest by calling off duties, urging for equal wages and job security, at the district hospital in Madikeri on Tuesday.

The call for the statewide stir was given by the state health department contractual staff on February 10. The contractual staff at the district hospital called off duties at the outpatient department from 10.30 am till 12 noon.

The district hospital utilised the services of the medical college staff and Health and Family Welfare Department staff to cater to the patients.

A contractual staff member said that the contractual staff are deprived of equal wages. The government should scrap the contract system and regularize the services of the medical staff.

More than 250 contractual staff members are working in the district and 120 of them are working in the district hospital, he added.