BENGALURU: Around 28,000 health department staff on contract will go on strike on Thursday, as part of a nationwide strike planned by the National Health Mission’s (NHM) contractual staff to demand salaries on par with that of permanent employees. The staff includes auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), staff nurses, doctors, lab technicians and pharmacists. Contractual staff employed under NHM are undertaking a one-day protest across the country on Thursday.
However, in Karnataka, all contractual workers in the health department in all the districts of the state have decided to strike for a day. District Health Officers have sent notices to all taluks that all those contractual staff and outsourced ones who strike work will be considered absent on that day and that no permanent medical and paramedical staff will get leave.
Rathan Kelkar, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Karnataka, said, “We have about 22,000 staff in NHM including doctors and nurses. An ANM under NHM gets Rs 10,000, but a permanent employee under the state health department may get Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000. NHM staff get an annual increment of 5 per cent according to the norms of the Centre. Work will be definitely affected as it is a big number going on strike but we will manage.”
Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said even if 27,000 staff out of a total 52,000 staff of the health department go on strike, government hospitals will function as usual. “We will have one doctor instead of two or three but delivery of health care wouldn’t be affected,” he said.
Vasu H V, President, Karnataka State Health Department Contract Employees Forum, said, “There is an SC direction that equal wages should be paid for equal work. The Contract Workers Act also says the same. But we are being paid 50 per cent of the salary.”
WHO WILL BE ON STRIKE?
National Health
Mission contractual
staff on strike: 22,000
Total contractual staff in the health department (including outsourced): 6,089