By Nawaraj Kattel, Biratnagar, July 6: Doctors and nurses working in the private hospitals, medical colleges, nursing and other health institutes have faced difficult days as the private health institutes have slashed their pays and perks in the excuse of infection of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

Both the Doctors Association and Nursing Association have blamed the private health institutions for depriving them of employment.

Doctors Association, Koshi, and Nursing Association, Morang, protested against slashing of salaries and services of the doctors and nurses by holding a press meet on Monday here.

Forward Silwal, Chairman of Doctors Association, Koshi, said that private health institutions, owing to their dominance, had given forced leave to the doctors and nurses, slashed their pay and perks and now had even started firing them from jobs.

 About 3 thousand doctors are working in private and government hospitals in 14 districts of Province 1, according to Silwal. Except for 300 doctors working in government hospitals, all others who were working in private health institutions have started to suffer from a woeful condition.

Days have become so gloomy that we doctors are likely to be kicked out of our rooms for failing to pay the rent, said Silwal, some private hospitals have not provided salaries to doctors since Fagun/mid-February.

According to him, 25 per cent of salaries was slashed starting from mid-March and from mid-April, it was increased to 50 per cent and since mid-May, some hospitals have stopped paying salaries to the health professionals altogether.

Silwal said health examination of the patients were resumed from mid-April in hospitals. However, private hospital owners have reasoned that no patients have visited their hospitals due to the lockdown and thus they failed to slash the salary or stop paying for the time being.

Kabita Adhikari, Chairperson of the Nursing Association, Morang, said that some 10,000 were involved in nursing professions in Province 1 and of them, only 25 per cent were employed in government health institutions.

She demanded that act of slashing salary of all nurses should be stopped immediately and that no nurse should be forced to take leave in the name of lockdown. She added, even those who were teaching in nursing campuses have been asked to take leave.

She made it clear that the medical and nursing colleges had taken fee from the students in the beginning and it is wrong to make excuse of the virus infection and not pay salary to the health professionals, teaching, nursing and other staff.

We have been neglected as it is not a good time for demonstration, said Menka Bhandari, secretary of the nursing association.

Both the associations have said they would be forced to create a compelling situation once normalcy gets restored as present is not a good time for taking to the street and stage demonstration.