Pune:Day one of the govt employees’ strike impacted patient care services at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital on Tuesday, as more than 600 nurses employed here participated in the protest. The situation mainly affected new admissions and routine surgeries; however, as additional staff was deployed to handle the excess load, the impact was less on already admitted patients, said hospital officials.BJ Medical College dean Dr Eknath Pawar told TOI, “We deployed 294 nursing college students to fill the staffing gaps, and also requested for 35 nurses from the Yerawada regional mental hospital (RMH). The latter were not available for today. Due to the strike, only routine surgeries and new admissions were affected slightly.Most nurses wore a black ribbon to participate in the agitation, but continued to serve patients.“The problems on ground were evident. On Tuesday, Sassoon hospital saw 110 new patients admitted, when usuallyabout 200 new patients are admitted daily. Close to 45 major and 60 minor surgeries were conducted, which usually crosses the 200-mark per day. At least 14 deliveries, including five Caesarean sections, were conducted; there are usually 30-40 such deliveries every day. The outpatient department (OPD) at the hospital remained largely unaffected, as between 8am and 4pm, 1,509 patients received treatment here.The Maharashtra State Government Employees Confederation (MSGEC) had on Monday announced the indefinite strike from April 21, with 17 lakh employees across the state, including 24,000 nurses of govt medical colleges and district as well as rural hospitals, set to join it to raise long-pending issues of govt and semi-govt employees, including teachers and non-teaching staff. The demands include reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), recruitment to vacant nursing positions, and raising the retirement age being raised from 58 to 60 years.The Maharashtra Government Nurses Association (affiliated with MSGEC) at Sassoon hospital has also joined this strike. Pragya Gaikwad, Pune president of the association, told TOI, “The chief minister has come all the way to these parts, yet he did not bother to meet protesters taking part in such a major strike. We will continue till our demands are met. Around 700 of the 900 nurses at Sassoon are associated with us, so this will likely hamper hospital management as well.“Dr Yallapa Jadhav, medical superintendent at Sassoon hospital, said, “Of the 927 nurses deployed at our hospital, 640 are on strike. Starting Wednesday, some of these nurses will participate in a black ribbon agitation, but patient care will resume as usual.”65,000 staff on strike in KolhapurSeveral publicoffices woreadesertedlook in Kolhapur as more than 65,000 staffers, including teaching and non-teaching staffofgovt colleges,observedthestrike.The exception wasofstaffers deployed fordutyatexamcentres, for voter registration,andnurses deputed at critical and emergency unitsofgovt hospitals, who eschewed the protestupon the appealsofthe heads of theirrespective departments.Hundreds ofprotestersgathered atHutatmaGardennearthedistrictcollector’s officeandstagedadharna forafewhourson Tuesday.While CMDevendra Fadnavis has asked top officials to interact with representatives ofgovtstaffers’associations and find a way out, as of Tuesdayevening, there was nobreakthrough.AnilLavekar, Kolhapur district president ofagovtemployees’association,said, “Wehadearlierdemandedreinstitution of theOPS.Thereafter, state govt under then-CM Eknath Shindedecided to implementarevisedNational Pension Scheme(NPS)on the lines ofCentre’sscheme.While it was to take off onMarch 1,2024,we are still waiting foritsimplementation.Govtclaimsthe rules are not yet prepared. We have warned govt to roll out the rules before May 1 or we will startanon-cooperationagitation.“As per the revisedNPS, employees will get pension equal to 50% of their last salary drawn,plus dearness allowance and 60%asfamily pension.“As per our calculation, the revised NPS will help get pension equaltoornearly asmuch astheOPS.So, wewant enforcement of the revised NPS,” addedLavekar.
