‘Health workers not paid wages for five months’

They are poor who live from hand to mouth. They are health workers who work three shifts a day, and by the end of the day, their hands are worn out. However, contractors are taking advantage of them, not paying them their dues on time and causing them distress. If these workers were not there, there would be no health care, no doctors, and no hospitals. Contractors are exploiting these lower-class contract workers by denying them their wages and subjecting them to hardships. When workers ask for their wages, they are threatened with saying, “We’ll give you the money whenever we feel like it.”
According to workers at the Sadasivapet Community Health Center in Sangareddy district, they have not been receiving their salaries regularly. The hospital here, despite having records showing 50 staff members, rarely has that many staff members present. The situation of contract workers is even worse. For example, 20 workers employed through an agency have not received their wages for almost five5 months. When workers inquire, they are told that there is no budget, and they are promised that the payment will be made once the budget arrives. If they demand their due payment forcefully, they are threatened with being removed from their jobs.
The workers complain that they have not been paid for the last four months and have to borrow money just to support their families. Now, even the lenders are unwilling to help them, and those who had borrowed money earlier are struggling to repay it. These workers are appealing to the authorities to ensure that the contractor pays their salaries, irrespective of the budget. They stress that it is unfair to treat workers in this way.