BP hospital strike enters day II

RATNA PRASAD AACHARYA

DHARAN: The stand-off between the hospital staff and the management of the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences entered the second day today.

Doctors’ negligence in patients’ treatment, manhandling of doctors by patients’ kin and staffs’ agitation are to blame for the hospital’s worsening condition, complain Dharan locals. They accuse the management of turning a blind eye to the problems faced by the hospital.

Nepal Civil Society, Sunsari, secretary Shyam Pokhrael said frequent agitations had deprived the patients of the much-needed treatment. He urged the government to take necessary measures to change the situation.

Employees, staffs and helpers halted their work for the second consecutive day on Tuesday demanding that they be provided the increased salary from the fiscal year 2011/2012. Hundreds of patients were compelled to return home without getting treatment due to the agitation.

Employees are agitation against the failure on the part of hospital management to provide an increased salary of 42 per cent and 32 percent for the low level and high level staffs respectively from the last fiscal year.

Nirmal Dhungana, helper at the hospital, maintained that they had continued their stir after the two phases of talks between the agitators and the hospital management failed to reach any agreement.

Agitators had staged a sit-in in front of the main gate and demonstrated from 8 am to 4 pm in the BP premise. Service at child ward, centre lab, radiology department, OPD, delivery ward, surgery ward and medicine ward were hit hard today as well.

Hiradevi Adhikari of Udayapur’s Beltar lamented that she had to return home due to the stir. Issuing a press release today, agitating staffs warned of launching stern protest if their demands were not addressed.

Meanwhile, Vice-chancellor Dr Balbhadra Prasad Das urged the agitating staffs to halt their protest and return to the work. He assured to pay 50 per cent of the increased salary from the next month.