GREATER NOIDAThe employees have been protesting since June 15, alleging that workers who have spent years serving the institute are being overlooked as GIMS proceeds with recruitment for permanent posts.Outsourced staff at the Government Institute of Medical Staff (GIMS) continued their protest demanding regularisation of jobs for a fifth consecutive day on Friday, stating that many of them had been working here for the past decade and that they may not meet the age criteria for government recruitment.The employees, including nursing staff, technicians, clerks and attendants, have been protesting since June 15, alleging that workers who have spent years serving the institute are being overlooked as GIMS proceeds with recruitment for permanent posts.According to the protesters, discussions with institute authorities and district administration officials have failed to yield a solution so far.“Our primary demand is that employees who have spent 10 to 15 years serving the institute should be regularised. If regularisation is not possible under existing rules, GIMS can absorb us directly on contract and assure us employment till the age of 60. We are not seeking anything beyond job security,” said a contractual employee, who did not wish to be named.“Many workers have spent the best years of their careers here. Some have already crossed the age limit for applying to several government jobs. After giving so many years to this institution, they are worried about their future,” the employee said.GIMS director Dr (Brig.) Rakesh Gupta said that the hospital is chiefly reliant on outsourced staff. “Doctors alone cannot run all hospital operations. The institute has very few regular non-teaching employees and relies heavily on outsourced personnel for day-to-day functioning,” he said.The GIMS administration has maintained that the employees’ demand for regularisation without a recruitment process is not in accordance with existing rules. The administration previously stated that recruitment to permanent posts is being carried out through the prescribed selection process and that there is no provision for direct regularisation of outsourced personnel without undergoing recruitment.Services affectedProtesters said that emergency services, inpatient care and critical care units continued to function normally, with the impact largely confined to registration-related work in the out-patient department (OPD). Registration services, which were affected during the initial days of the protest, have also gradually resumed, they said.While protesters maintained that emergency, inpatient and critical care services continued to function normally and that the impact was largely limited to registration-related work, GIMS director Dr (Brig.) Rakesh Gupta said hospital operations were being affected due to the ongoing strike.“Services are definitely being affected. The employees are protesting inside the institute and many staff members have joined the agitation,” Gupta said.Referring to the impact on patient care, Gupta said, “On June 16, we had more than 480 admitted patients, including around 60 in intensive care and about 10 on ventilator support. You can imagine the situation when such services are affected. The issue is still under discussion and no final resolution has been reached yet.”