SRINAGAR, 19 March (KNB): At the gates of Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and its associated hospitals, security guards continue to report for duty but for the past three months, many of them say they have been working without pay.
This Eid, when families across Kashmir prepare for celebration, these guards are counting debts.
After months of waiting, they were paid just one month’s salary ahead of Eid. But even that relief never truly reached them it was consumed almost instantly by loans taken to survive the unpaid months.
“I am not going home this Eid,” said one guard, holding back tears. “What will I bring home? I don’t have money to buy clothes for my children, not even food. They will ask me questions… and I have no answers. Three months’ salary is still pending. One month was given, but that too is already gone in loans.”
An RTI filed exposes the scale of outsourcing in GMC Srinagar hospitals and raises serious questions about where the money is going.
Across hospitals, hundreds of security guards are deployed through Valley Security Agency, Lalla Ded Hospital: 92 guards, SMHS Hospital: 154 guards, Super Specialty Hospital: 91 guards, Children Hospital Bemina: 80 guards, Psychiatric Hospital: 45 guards, Bone & Joint Hospital: 48 guards, Chest Disease Hospital: 60 guards
The government is paying lakhs every month to the private agency, SMHS Hospital: ~₹19.5 lakh/month, Lalla Ded Hospital: ~₹11.7 lakh/month, Bone & Joint Hospital: ~₹6.38 lakh/month, Psychiatric Hospital: ~₹4.88 lakh/month Collectively, this runs into crores annually.
According to official records, Per guard payment: ₹10,800 – ₹12,800/month based on minimum wage (~₹311/day) under government orders but on the ground, guards tell a different story Actual in-hand salary: ~₹7,000, ₹2,000 deducted as PF (Provident Fund), Another ₹2,000 — unaccounted
“No one tells us where the remaining money goes,” a guard said. “We just keep working because we have no choice.”
When we contacted, a representative of Valley Security Service responded bluntly “Do whatever you want.” He then cut the call. Repeated attempts were made to reach Principal, GMC Srinagar, Administrator, GMC However, calls went unanswered, and messages received no response.
The outsourcing system operates under, Minimum Wages Act, Government orders like SRO 460, S.O 513, Wage revisions from ₹225/day to ₹311/day after court directions Yet, despite structured payments on paper, guards say the system is failing them at the most basic level — their wages.
This Eid, while hospitals remain functional and secured, the men guarding them stand in quiet distress unpaid, unheard, and pushed to the margins. Their uniforms remain intact, Their dignity, they say, does not.
A system that spends lakhs every month on paper is leaving its frontline workers with empty hands and unanswered questions.
Lakhs are being paid.
But the guards ask: where is our share? (KNB)