Three Workers Fired from Delhi Hospital Allegedy for Putting up Pamphlets about Farmers’ Protest

Three contractual workers of the multi-tasking staff (MTS) at Lady Hardinge Hospital in Delhi were fired from their jobs earlier this month since they put up pamphlets in support of the ongoing farmer’s agitation at the national capital’s borders. The three female staffers allege that initially they were told that they were being punished for putting up the information on the bulletin board in the hospital’s premises and that they would be taken back.

However, a month later, the staffers are struggling to pay their bills and make both ends meet with no recourse in sight. NewsClick spoke to the three women who had been fired. The workers are affiliated with the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).

Speaking to NewsClick, Savitha said: “We have had to borrow money from here and there; I have an eight-month-old child who I need to take care of. We were first kicked out in June-July but were called back after protesting. There is a lot of uncertainty, we aren’t ever told why we are being suspended; this has to do with the contractualisation of work. We were putting up the pamphlets when our shift was over. At first, we were threatened and told that we will have to pay a fine. An official from the hospital said: ‘You work for the central government hospital and you are propagating against Modiji!”

“All that we were trying to do was to express our solidarity – as workers of the country – with this movement. The labour officer told us that we are damaging hospital property,” she added.

Asha, another MTS, said that the company which they are contracted to had removed them. “We even approached the labour cell at the hospital but there was no response; all that we did was put up posters, they doubled-down on this issue and fired us,” she said.

The medical institution has been witnessing prolonged protests with the contracted company regularly shifting and laying off workers. However, the staff feel that the latest move by the institution is focused on crushing their voices.

The third staffer who has been laid off, also named Savita, said that she was fired on December 2 and that the authorities told her that she was “being punished for a few days. I was told that I was being kicked out after someone spotted me putting up pamphlets about the problems with the Farm Laws.”

“When I called after 15 days I was told that they had hired new workers in our place and did not need us. I had been working there for the past three years. We are now sitting at home for no fault of ours. What is wrong with extending solidarity? Protesting is our right, we were merely putting up information about what is happening at our borders, we cannot be fired for this,” she added.

NewsClick reached out to the labour cell of the hospital. Gowever, there was no response.

Previously , 70 staffers from the hospital were terminated without any notice by the contractor as his tenure was coming to an end. The staff also said that they hadn’t been paid their salary for the past four months.

The MTS at Lady Hardinge Medical College and associated hospitals have even accused some hospital officials of “extortion”, alleging that they were asked for a hefty sum in exchange for securing their jobs. Following their termination, over 200 workers of the medical facility filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court as a last-ditch attempt to save their livelihoods.