IMH warders protest, demand more staff and lesser work hours

Stating that the institute needs more staff and they are being made to work long hours, a warder said, “Vacancies need to be filled as the pressure on them has been mounting. This leads to issues at home, too.” 

Demanding an eight-hour long shift, they said that basic facilities like water, toilet and a place to relax 

are not being provided to them. 

“We are at a great risk since we have to deal with persons who are mentally ill. They tend to get violent sometimes. We have to tend to their basic needs too. But our necessities are not met with,” said P Selvakumar, another protester. Demanding a risk allowance, they said that the violence they are put through is too much to handle. 

“The institute should have 202 male and 77 female caretakers. But we are short of 100 male and 34 female caretakers. Besides that, we lack 34 male and 17 female sweepers. We need eight more cooks, three washermen, five barbers, two emergency vehicle drivers, seven male guards and two female guards,” he added. 

The protesters stated that they had given a petition to the director, who never took any steps to solve their problems. Commenting on the issue, an official said, “This is a long pending matter, which has been waiting for approval in the secretariat. The warders demand that we put pressure on the government to take action to solve the issue.”