BENGALURU: The government will take up the issue of the regularisation of services of 507 contract doctors during the next Cabinet meeting, Health Minister B Sriramulu said on Tuesday. Salaries of the doctors on contract were recently raised to Rs 60,000 from Rs 45,000 after they threatened to quit. The doctors, who met Sriramulu to submit their resignations, agreed to resume work after the minister assured them on Tuesday that the issue had been discussed with the CM and that it would be taken up at the next Cabinet meeting.
“In 2008-09, in my previous stint as health minister, I had made 1,944 contract doctors jobs permanent. Today the chief minister has agreed to make the jobs of 507 doctors permanent. The doctors have agreed to resume duties,” Sriramulu said. The minister appealed to Asha workers not to go on strike and promised to look into their demands. Asha workers, who are on the frontlines of the fight against Covid- 19, have threatened to boycott work as their demands have not been met by the government.
They are demanding a monthly wage of Rs 12,000, including the honorarium they currently receive and incentives. “Asha and anganwadi workers have been doing an excellent job as corona warriors. I thank them for their services and request them not to protest. I assure them I will discuss their issues with the CM. They should not go on strike, he said.