Doctors fighting COVID-19 got upto 50% pay cut — and some of them haven’t been paid yet

• In Mumbai, India’s coronavirus hotspot, doctors working in civic body run-hospitals have got between 30-50% pay cut.
  
• In Kolkata as many as 500 nurses have left for their homes after they were asked to work with protective gear and any pay.
  
• With fewer footfalls, big private hospitals like Fortis have resorted to massive pay cuts of doctors.
  
  

Indian doctors and nurses— some of them working to fight coronavirus pandemic— are now facing huge salary cuts and going home with delayed salary payments while the government adjusts expenditure against falling revenue.

In Mumbai, India’s coronavirus hotspot, doctors working in civic body run-hospitals have got between 30-50% pay cut.

“For the month of March, I got a 50% pay cut, and I am yet to get April’s salary. I get a monthly salary of ₹1.3 lakh. On one side, we are on the frontline of battle against coronavirus and on other, we are getting lesser pay. This is unacceptable,” Jarmansingh Padvi, president of Maharashtra Association of Gazetted Medical Officers reportedly said.

In Kolkata, the capital of yet another covid hotspot West Bengal, as many as 500 nurses have left for their homes after they were asked to work with protective gear and any pay. Some of the nurses who were from Manipur say they were heckled and called “corona” and “chinese.”

“There are several issues like security, social ostracism, low or no salary, food shortage during quarantine, working environment, personal safety and security, landlord and accommodation, mental health and depression,” Kshetrimayun Shyamkesho Singh, the president of Manipuris in Kolkata said.

Coronavirus is also affecting the health workers in private medical facilities. With fewer footfalls, big private hospitals like Fortis have resorted to massive pay cuts of doctors and nurses.

According to Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Managing director of Fortis Healthcare, Salaried doctors at some hospitals have seen a pay cut of 25-50% where senior management has also taken voluntary salary reduction between 10-50%.

"We have not made any cuts in the salaries of our staff, nurses or of frontline workers who are the backbone of the system and need to be protected. However, senior management and senior doctors have voluntarily taken some salary reductions ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent,"

Bengaluru-based Mallige Hospital has also announced a 30% to 50% salary cut for doctors after their occupancy fell to only 15%.

SEE ALSO: A whole lot of doctors reportedly forced to reuse same mask for a week are crying for support
These are some of the open positions at HCL Tech, Infosys, Wipro and other top tech giants in India