Bhubaneswar: Security personnel deployed at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, who were staging a sit-in protest alleging non-payment of salaries, called off their stir on Friday following assurances by authorities.
Notably, employees engaged by an outsourced agency, particularly security personnel, had staged the protest alleging non-payment of salaries, non-deposit of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions and arbitrary deductions from their wages.
After discussions with the AIIMS Director Dr Ashutosh Biswas, who visited the protest site, the agitating employees withdrew their stir.
The employees have called off the protest after receiving an assurance from the Director that the arrears will be paid by Friday evening.
Stating that the outsourced agency has been asked to clear the arrears of the security employees at the earliest, Dr Biswas said the dues would be settled by this evening.
Moreover, the authorities are expected to review the arrangements with the outsourcing agency roped in by AIIMS Bhubaneswar and take appropriate steps to prevent any disruption in services in future.
It may be noted that the protest haddisrupted security arrangements across the institute as guards remained absent from most departments. Only the Emergency Department continued to have security coverage as the agitating workers pressed for the fulfilment of their demands.
According to reports, nearly 440 security guards participated in the protest. They alleged that MVSF, the outsourcing agency responsible for their deployment over the past two months, failed to release salaries on time and made deductions from wages without proper explanation.
