Security guards hold protest at LNJP Hosp

: A group of security guards employed by the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital on Wednesday staged a protest on its campus alleging delay in disbursement of salaries and overwork among other issues, officials said.

However, they resumed work after authorities of the Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital stepped in and assured them to look into their grievances, they said.

“The guards deployed at the hospital have been engaged through multiple agencies, the majority of them via an agency hired by the government. The guards who protested today are those who have been hired via a small private agency,” a senior official at the hospital said.

About 140 guards are linked with this agency and the protest was led “largely by their supervisor” and all the guards of the agency did not participate in the protest, the official claimed.

Patient services at the hospital have not been affected, sources said.

“Their grievances are related to delay in disbursement of salaries and provident fund-related matters, among other issues. Their allegation of overwork for more than eight hours is also being looked into. Duty registers will be checked to ascertain their claim,” the official said, adding that the guards resumed work after getting the assurance. The LNJP Hospital, whose foundation was laid by the then Viceroy Lord Irwin in 1930, is the largest hospital under the Delhi government with 2,000 beds and was the mainstay facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.