Udupi MLA to meet Karnataka CM, discuss salary dues at Koosamma Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdulla Mother and Child Hospital in Udupi,

UDUPI: The issue of unpaid salaries for more than 200 employees of the Koosamma Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdulla Mother and Child Hospital in Udupi will be discussed with the chief minister on Thursday.

K Raghupathi Bhat, MLA from Udupi, will discuss the PPP model hospital issue with chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and health medical education minister K Sudhakar. There were no salaries in May, June and July for nurses, doctors, pharmacists, among other employees. BR Life, a business firm owned by NRI BR Shetty, has been unable to pay the hospital’s employees’ salaries due to financial difficulties, so the staff is planning an indefinite strike beginning Wednesday.

However, the MLA met the hospital staff members and gave an assurance that the pending salary dues will be released through Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust. Following this, they have temporarily cancelled their plans of the indefinite strike. The 200-bed hospital handles an average of 350 deliveries per month and most of the pregnant women who reach the hospital are from poor families. Bhat told TOI that he will discuss with the CM on whether the hospital can be managed by the government directly as BR Shetty’s firm is in financial crisis.

“The hospital requires nearly Rs 40 lakh per month to pay salaries of more than 200 staff. While the total due is about Rs 1.2 crore, we have promised staff members that Rs 60 lakh will be released through the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust by Monday. Later, a decision on clearing all old salary dues through the government by the end of this month will be taken after meeting the chief minister,” Bhat said.

As per an agreement, the hospital should be maintained completely by BR Shetty’s firm. Yet, the government has sent 14 doctors to the hospital on deputation to ensure it functions uninterruptedly. Even the medicines required for the hospital are being supplied by the government, Bhat said, adding that it was a wrong decision taken by the previous government in 2017 to open the hospital under PPP model in association with a private firm.