SVIMS workers end protest following assurance on key demands
They were protesting for the past one month and intensified it in the last 10 days
Tirupati: Contract workers at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), who were on a protest path for almost one month, withdrew their protest late Saturday night after officials assured them that their key demands would be addressed in a time-bound manner.
The protest, which had intensified over the last ten days, saw over 800 contract workers, including long-serving ward boys, participating in a relay hunger strike.
Workers alleged wage discrimination and demanded recognition of their roles, revision of their job designations from sanitation staff to ward assistants, and inclusion of relievers into the corporation setup.
Despite previous assurances from the TTD and SVIMS administration, workers claimed there had been no implementation, prompting them to launch the strike on July 4. With ESMA in force, the TTD had earlier issued warnings against such agitations, adding to tensions.
As hospital services began to suffer, the district administration intervened. On Friday, a review meeting was held at Padmavathi Guest House by TTD Executive Officer J Syamala Rao, district Collector Dr S Venkateswar, and SP V Harshavardhan Raju. This was followed by talks on Saturday afternoon between CITU leaders and senior officials at the RDO office.
Later that evening, a team of senior officers including SVIMS Director Dr RV Kumar, Additional SP K Ravi Manoharachari, RDO B Rama Mohan, and TTD officials visited the protest site.
Addressing the workers, they conveyed that the administration had positively considered all eight of their demands and had initiated discussions at the highest level under retired IAS officers Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and Chakrapani.
Following these assurances, the workers ended their relay hunger strike. Officials offered lemon juice to the fasting workers, symbolically marking the end of the protest.
Union representatives thanked the administration for responding constructively, and announced that the protest camp was being withdrawn. CITU district general secretary Kandarapu Murali, president G Balasubramanyam, T Subramanyam, K Venugopal and others were present.
