Terminated dist hospital employees attempt suicide

Upset over being terminated from service, five contractual workers at Chigateri District Hospital here attempted suicide by consuming poison on Saturday.

Victims Somashekar, Hanumanthappa Balluru, Sumayabanu, Sindhu Kolkunte and Deepa Hebbal are being treated at the district hospital.

They were among 83 employees whose employment was terminated.
A total of 48 nurses, 24 data entry operators and 11 technicians have not received their wages for the past five months. Now, they have been removed from their services for staging protests demanding pending wages. They have been issued relieving letter, complained A K Manjappa, president of outsourced employees' association.

Some of us have been working as contract employees at the hospital for the past 8 to 10 years. The authorities have terminated our service all of a sudden. How can we sustain our families, questioned relieved employees Ravi, Gutyappa Kattimani, Shweta and Vidyavati.

We were outsourced from BKR Swamy Security agency. The said agency has been blacklisted. We have been denied of facilities including leave and EPF, they complained.