Delhi govt faces contempt action for failure to ensure better wages of nurses in private hospitals

The Delhi High Court has criticised the Delhi government for ‘backtracking’ after adopting the recommendations of an expert committee regarding the minimum wages of nurses in private hospitals.

The HC warned the government on Monday of contempt action if its order wasn’t implemented before the next hearing on July 12, 2022.

The expert committee of the government of India had observed that nurses working in private institutions are covered under statutory labour laws and recommended that they should not be paid less than Rs 20,000 per month even in smaller nursing homes having less than 50 beds.

Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that the conduct of the Delhi government could be construed as willful disobedience of judicial orders.

The HC was hearing a contempt plea filed by Indian Professional Nurses Association through its joint secretary Siju Thomas for alleged non-compliance of an order dated July 22, 2019. Thomas remarked that the delay in implementing the order was adversely affecting the nurses.

In 2016, the Supreme Court had directed the formation of an expert committee which would give recommendations for higher wages and improving working conditions of nurses in the private sector. This would then be enacted by the states.

These directions were passed based on a writ petition filed by the Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) highlighting the grievances of nurses and their working conditions in private hospitals and nursing homes.

Soon after, a committee consisting of nine members, including Director General of Health Service and Joint Secretary, MoHFW amongst others, was constituted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

After examining the salary structure of nurses in government and private hospitals in the country, the committee had recommended that nurses working in private hospitals equipped with more than 200 beds be given a salary at par with that given to state government nurses in the concerned state/UT for the similar corresponding grade.

It recommended that in hospitals with up to 200 beds, salary given to private nurses should not be more than 10% less in comparison to the salary given to state government nurses in the concerned state/UT for the similar grade.

In case of 50-100 bedded hospitals, salary given should not be more than 25% less, the committee said.

Finally, the committee noted, private nurses should not be paid less than Rs 20,000 per month even by hospitals equipped with fewer than 50 beds.

The committee had observed that the nurses’ working conditions, which included leave, working hours, medical facilities, transportation and accommodation should be at par with the benefits granted to state government nurses working in the concerned state/UTs.

The recommendations of the expert committee were accepted by the Government of NCT of Delhi and an order was passed by its Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) on June 25, 2018, directing all hospitals and nursing homes to comply with them.

But in August 2020, the Delhi government filed an affidavit stating that the recommendations of the expert committee were unimplementable.

IPNA general secretary Arun GS said the Delhi government’s about-turn was shocking and saddening as the organisation was expecting the government to implement the recommendations given by the expert committee regarding minimum wages and working condition of staff nurses in the private sector.

The Delhi government’s assistant standing counsel Gautam Narayan stated in court that it was not financially viable for the government to compel private hospitals/nursing homes to implement the pay scale as recommended by the said expert committee.

As per the information gathered by the state from different private hospitals, the salary being given to nurses was found to be varying from Rs 14,000 as minimum and Rs 33,500 as maximum.

He claimed that some private hospitals submitted that the salary structure suggested by the expert committee was on a much higher scale and would have repercussions on the cost of treatment.

The private hospitals had warned that if they implemented this order, the financial impact would be disproportionately higher and that the FDI momentum would come down, he said.

Narayan pointed out that a large hospital chain had stated that the recommendations given by the committee were not in line with free market principles.

National Herald reached out to Delhi-DGHS and the state health ministry, but got no response. This article will be updated if and when a response is received.