Chennai Corporation app's glitch costs nearly full month salary for contract healthcare workers

CHENNAI: Over 500 healthcare workers employed under Chennai Corporation-run facilities staged a sit-in protest inside the Ripon Building premises on Thursday following severe salary cuts caused by technical glitches in the "GCC PHD Attendance" mobile app.

Temporary workers, including doctors, nurses, data entry operators and lab technicians employed under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) faced severe pay cuts for May caused by the app glitch. The protesters demanded proper disbursement of salaries, pay hikes, and permanent job regularisation.

The affected employees work across 200 Urban Health and Wellness Centres (UHWCs), 140 Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs), and 16 Urban Community Health Centres (UCHCs) within GCC limits. According to the staff, they have been urging the Corporation for years to increase their basic pay. Currently, doctors receive Rs 60,000 per month, while staff nurses, Urban Health nurses, and lab technicians receive Rs 14,000. Supporting staff are paid Rs 8,500, and data entry operators receive Rs 13,000.

The recent app glitch took some doctors' salaries to a range between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000. Some NUHM nurses, lab technicians, and staff nurses received only Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 of their regular salaries. Workers reported that despite a 10-minute grace period, the application marked them late even when they registered their attendance on time. Salaries were also wrongfully deducted for taking authorised casual leave.

"I receive Rs 16,500 every month, and for May, I received only Rs 2,500. Some colleagues received just Rs 4,000 or Rs 6,000. How am I supposed to support my family with two school-going children? We do not even get payslips, which hinders us from looking for new jobs," a staff nurse rued.

A doctor from the Royapuram zone noted that while the attendance application had been under trial for a few months, officials gave no concrete information on its final implementation date. "We thought the app-based attendance would be fully implemented by June. However, the GCC enforced it in the middle of May without informing us," added a staff nurse from the Alandur zone.

As the app only runs on Android phones, which is a hindrance to users of basic feature phones and iPhones, many staff members have rejected the implementation of the app, another doctor said.

"GCC will credit the remaining salaries to everyone within the next three days by verifying attendance from physical registers. The technical glitches will be resolved. Three months ago, the application was also made available on iOS," City Health Officer M Jagadeesan told DT Next, adding that he has requested the protesters to formally submit their queries in writing on Friday.

The protesters were eventually cleared from the premises after police warned that they would face arrest if the demonstration continued.
Speaking to DT Next, the permanent staff across several UPHCs voiced their support for the contract health workers' protest.  "They basically threaten them with an app," said a staffer. "In most centres, they face discrimination just for being contract staff, and they get affected mentally," said another staff member from another UPHC, requesting anonymity. They added that none of the hospitals could function without them, yet they get meagre pay.

Meanwhile, UPHCs across the city struggled to cope with the patients during outpatient hours. "It was hectic till 11 am. Without the full strength of nurses and supporting staff, it was very difficult to handle," said a permanent working staff nurse at a UPHC in the Tondiarpet zone.

The UPHCs, as well as maternity and child hospitals across the city, were deserted. At Shenoy Nagar, there was not a single working staff member present. "We came to check on my son's fever, but there is no one here, " said Santhosh, who then took his son to the peripheral hospital in Anna Nagar.