Employees picket hospital

Kavre, August 27

Staffers at Sheer Memorial Hospital at Ghogechaur of Banepa Municiplaity-5, Kavre, have started picketing the hospital administration from today.

Agitating staffers have accused the hospital administration of exploiting and depriving them of facilities and benefits for the past three weeks.

Agitating employees had been staging a sit-in, at the hospital administration building, blocking entry. All employees aligned with Hospital Employees’ Union participated in picketing the hospital.

Nepal Health Workers and Hospital Employees’ Union Chairman Raj Kumar Shrestha said they were forced to agitate as repeated pleas to meet their demands had fallen on deaf ears.

Their demands included making public the income and expenditure of the hospital, reasonable salary for hospital employees and increasing facilities for patients, among others. “We shall continue the agitation until our demands are met,” Shrestha warned.

Earlier, 50 per cent employees at the hospital were taking part in the agitation. More than 200 staffers are affiliated with the employees’ union.

Acting Chief Executive Officer at the hospital, Surya Prabha Shakya said that they were preparing to hold talks with agitating staffers.

Hospital staffers had launched the agitation putting forth a list of demands last year also. The agitation was called off after the hospital administration assured them that their demands would be met.