Salary hike demand: NHM employees stop working, threaten for indefinite strike
Salary hike demand: NHM employees stop working, threaten for indefinite strike
Ferozepur, April 27, 2021: Despite the country facing crisis in health services due to Covid-19 pandemic, the National Health Mission employees today stopped working even the emergency services, putting inconvenience to the public and threatened to go on indefinite strike on state union’s call, if their demands were not met.
Meanwhile, the striking workers chanted slogans and protested against the Punjab government.
Speaking to media persons, the Union leaders – Sandeep Kumar, Lalip Nagpal, Sangeeta, Jyoti Balan said, around 12000 employees of the National Health Mission of Punjab went on strike today across Punjab, shutting down the health department completely, boycotting vaccinations, stopping corona sampling and providing emergency services.
Disclosing further District Vice President Mr. Sukhdev Raj said that in this mission the oldest programs like TB department staff, Leprosy department staff and the RCH program staff has been working on a contract basis for the last 15-16 years in this mission and many of them are going to retire on a contract basis in the next few months. Employees working in other programs are also being victimized by these employees, including outsourced employees, computer operators, information assistants, pharmacists, staff nurses, multipurpose health workers include females, lab technicians, etc.
He said, they are being exploited by taking many times more work by paying them less. He also said that 500 employees tested positive during Covid 19 and had to face a lot of difficulties.
The staff of National Health Mission have repeatedly appealed to the Punjab Government that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the central mission and the staff of that mission has been regularized by the Punjab Government and provided full facilities to the regular employees. The Haryana Government has also provided facilities and salary to the employees of National Health Mission from 2018 onwards equal to those of regular employees. Rural medical officers have also become regularirzed but NHM employees feel ignored.
He said, the Punjab Chief Minister instead of accepting the legitimate demands of these workers called the strike nonsense and even threatened to fire them. The striking workers warned the Punjab government that if they were not given unconditional regularization notification, they would soon proceed on hunger strike.
He also said, Covid is going through a terrible time, and in not accepting the demands of the employees the entire responsibility for any consequences falls on the government.
