The other day, I had been to a very famous hospital in Calicut to visit a few patients there.I found the hospital staff very cordial and pleasant.The doctors and other paramedical staff were all very considerate and caring to the patients, a hallmark for the success of a good hospital.The hospital wards and premises were maintained very neat and tidy throughout.

All is well here. But there is a deviation, I found, from the rosy picture and the all-is-well state of affairs in the multi-speciality hospital, which is managed by an NRI businessman. I noticed uniform-clad young women manning the various entry points , operation theatres and ICU in the hospital.Why I observed them was that in no other private hospital here, women are employed as security personnel. I found them standing in the same spot both in the morning and evening, when I visited the hospital twice that time one day.

I was little eager and concerned to find the young women in their late twenties continuously standing for hours together without being able to sit on a stool or chair. I just made myself friendly with one of them and enquired about their job.I got some alarming facts. These poor ladies were engaged as security guards by some private Security agencies contracted by the hospital. They have to work in shifts. One has to work for hours as long as 10 to 12 hours at a stretch.. all continously standing!

These hapless women from poor surroundings and most of them with families to look after are paid very meagre salaries. They get some Rs.2400/= per month. From this measly amount they get, they have to part with Rs.800/= to the agency as their commission.So on an average, they get Rs.53/= per day, when a male labourer in Kerala earn anything between Rs.250-300 per day and a female labourer earn around Rs.200/= per day. Is it not a sheer and 'dignified' exploitation of women at the hands of the contractor and the hospital?

The matter does not end here. Has the hospital, which boasts of health care for all, ever thought of the health hazards and risks caused to these indigent women under their nose by making them to keep on standing for long hours ? The constant standing by women for long hours would expose them to abdominal and gynaecological disorders , making irreparable losses in their lives.Their internal organs are getting incapacitated due to the long physical endurances of this sort. Not knowing this, they are doing their job with a smile, disregarding all odds and risks...all for a little earnings.

Kerala is a progressive state ruled by the Left Democratic Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with all safeguards for good working conditions for labourers.We have also a Labour welfare department and a Commission for Women here to monitor the working conditions of labourers and to safeguard the interests of women. Hundreds of people including political leaders, social workers and Government officials visit the hospital daily. Don't they see the sad plight of these women? The miserable plight of these women continues to haunt my mind.

Something should be done to protect these women from the sheer exploitation and injustice they are subjected to.

Pramod