Hyderabad: Despite nurses at state hospitals holding strong protests against delays in salaries, union members claim Class IV employees do not report their troubles because most make do with bribes taken from patients.
A senior union leader, who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity, said: “A large number of them are able to earn a livelihood thanks to bribes patients are willingly paying. For example, those in labour ward demand Rs 500 when a male child is born. In fact, there is a group always stationed in these wards and they even split bribes amongst them. There is no one who can control them.”
Nurses, for the past two years, have been protesting against salary delays and have been asking official to give them permanent status. But senior state officials have been dragging the issue.
A senior nurse at Gandhi Hospital said: “Contractors don’t pay on time. We have been urging the government to look into the matter and we have also been demanding permanent status. But there have been no developments despite us performing a major share of work at hospitals.”
