Patna: The nurses working on contract at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) went on strike on Monday morning seeking better payment.

According to sources, the nurses were aggrieved at not being provided with salaries on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The nurses work under M4 Solutions Pvt Ltd, an agency which has been outsourced by the hospital.

According to the hospital's acting director, SK Shahi, the nurses on contract were only around 150 in number against more than 200 regular staff and he claimed that hospital services were not affected due to the strike on Monday.

"Nurses on contract working at AIIMS get something between Rs 38,000 and 42,000 while here we are being given Rs 18,000 on a monthly basis. IGIMS follows AIIMS rules. So why is there no parity on the salary structure with AIIMS? In order to fool us, last year only we were given Rs 36,000 salary. The administration communicated to us verbally that our salaries had been increased but no written notice was issued. The next month we didn't get salary and after this we were again given salary in the earlier salary bracket. This time, the administration told us that they had given us two months' salary at one go in November. We cannot buy this claim. This is a bluff. Until our salaries are increased, we will continue our strike," said a nurse.

He claimed that last week, the nurses on contract stalled work for an hour to press their demands. "We had gone on strike but later we called it off after an hour after we were assured that our salaries will be increased. However, the salary which we received in January is the same (Rs 18,000). We feel cheated. We tried to speak to director NR Biswas but we were told that he is out of campus and is likely to join work on February 21 or February 22," added the nurse.

Sources said the hospital's internal audit found out that nurses on contract were given Rs 36,000 salary during the last year.

"After asking the outsourcing agency, we got to know that the nurses were demanding for increasing their salary due to which they were handed over double salary. This was against the rule. IGIMS is supposed to pay the outsourcing agency and it has to give the payment to the outsourced staff. We asked the agency to give the salary as per the earlier salary bracket. The agency informed the nurses on contract that they were paid the increased salary by mistake and that it was supposed to be given them for two monthsand the agency people again started paying the nurses on contract Rs 18,000," said an IGIMS official.

IGIMS acting director SK Shahi said he had asked the outsourcing agency to ensure that services were not hampered at IGIMS due to the strike and they had to engage other nursing staff from their end in case the strike continues. "We have nothing to do with the nurses on contract because they have been hired by the outsourcing agency. They are not our staff. We have asked the agency to ensure that hospital services are not hampered due to the strike otherwise we would cut their salary," said Shahi.

Patients and their kin said they didn't feel the effect of the strike very much on the first day. "The hospital has a good number of regular nurses who took care of patients today but God knows if the strike continues," said Harilal Chaturvedi, a patient's kin.

Till the time of filing this report (7.30pm), the nurses on contract continued their strike.