By Express News Service KOCHI: Without any formal announcement or intimation to the public, the PV Swami (PVS) Memorial Hospital at Kaloor, Kochi, has shut down operations. Some of the hospital staff have been left in the lurch, with no inkling as to how their financial needs are going to be met. Dues for over six months remain to be paid by the management. Over 50 of the staff members have been staging a sit-in protest at the hospital for the past three months. “Since May, we have been protesting and all appeals seem to have fallen on deaf ears. We are not demanding anything more than just the benefits and arrears that the company is obliged to pay us. In our group, there also women who are the sole breadwinners of their family and now they are jobless. Whose door should we knock at to be paid our dues?”, asks Maria Maxi, who has served the institution for over 20 years. Though discussions were held with the Labour Commission and then Ernakulam District Collector Mohammed Y Safirulla in May this year, the management failed to keep their promise of settling the dues of the doctors and staff. “There were over 500 staff at the hospital, including doctors, whose salaries have also been pending for over six months. Almost all doctors have sought jobs at other hospitals; they have also taken their staff along with them,” said Dr Mathew Philip, former medical director of PVS Hospital. The management is reluctant to address the issues of the staff and doctors. “They are neither answering our calls nor contacting any of us. We are losing hope that our arrears will ever be paid. This is a serious issue,” said Dr Mathew. Meanwhile, Dr Junaid Rahman, president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said the management has not honoured their word. “They had agreed to settle the dues of all staff, but till now, they have not done so,” said Dr Junaid.Earlier this year, PVS hospital had witnessed scenes of turmoil, with a group of hospital staff including doctors sitting on dharna against the management, miffed with non-payment of salaries and their unilateral decision to close down essential patient-care facilities.

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