CHENNAI: Village health nurses (VHNs) staged a hunger strike on Thursday pressing the state health department for various demands, including filling around 3,000 VHN vacancies across the state.
P Fathimamary, state treasurer, Tamil Nadu Government All Health Nurses Association, said, “Our main demands are the health department should fill over 3,800 VHN vacancies immediately. The VHNs should be treated on par with health inspectors. Health inspectors are given promoted to Grade-II during their fifth year of service, but VHNs have to wait for 30 years for the same. This discrimination should be stopped.”
“Furthermore, the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme (MRMBS) should be handed back over to the welfare department. MRMBS work takes up 80% of VHNs’ time. We are unable to concentrate on maternal and child health care matters,” Fathimamary added.
The striking nurses also said the department offers free accommodation for medical officers, but deducts monthly rent from VHNs’ salary. The health department should provide free housing, electricity and water to the VHNs. The department should assign data entry work to someone else and stop imposing it on VHNs for better productivity, they added.