Raids on private hospitals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Labour Department on Tuesday conducted raids on 33 private hospitals in its efforts to check violation of labour rules and inhuman exploitation of nurses and other hospital staff.Following reports of harassment of the staff  at various super specialty hospitals in Kollam, Kochi and other centres, Labour Minister Shibu Baby John instructed Labour Commissioner T T Antony to constitute special squads and conduct the inspections.On Monday, 39 raids were conducted. The Labour Commissioner said serious lapses, including denial of minimum wages, no holiday on festival days and denial of benefits for working on holidays, had been detected in various hospitals.