Bara, July 5

As many as 65 health workers at 11 health facilities under Bara’s Jitpur Simara Sub-metropolitan City have been deprived of their salaries for the past three months.

According to health staffers, they haven’t received the dress allowance of the current fiscal and dearness allowance since December last year, besides their regular monthly salaries.

The health workers have also sought the attention of the sub-metropolis towards their plight by writing to the mayor and the deputy mayor, but to no avail.

Simara Primary Health Centre Assistant Nursing Mid-wife Urmila Baidhya lamented the difficulty she was facing to cover the daily expenses given the overdue salary.

“I’m pregnant and so I have to eat nutritious food, but as I haven’t received my salary since the month of May, I can’t buy enough food though I advise my patients at my office not to compromise on health issue,” she said.

Dr Anusatha Khan at the health centre also dwelt on the difficulty she was facing due to financial crisis in the family.

“On the one hand, we have to meet daily expenses, while on the other, we also have to pay school fees for our children.

It’s really hard to manage family expenses when you don’t get your salary on time,” she said.

The municipality has said the delay in paying the salary has to do with the release of insufficient fund from the higher authority.

“We don’t’ know why but we haven’t got enough fund to provide salary. We’re constantly corresponding to the concerned ministries requesting them to release enough fund,” said Health Section Chief at Simara Sub-metropolitan City Lalbabu Sahani.

The sub-metropolis has two urban health centres and eight health posts.